Dr. Shaper Mirza holds a BSc (Hon) degree from University of Karachi and a doctorate from The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Her PhD studies involved understanding mechanisms of nasal colonisation by a Gram-positive pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. More specifically the work was focused on understanding the interaction of a human mucosal protein lactoferrin with pneumococcal surface proteins and its downstream effects on colonisation by Streptococcus pneumoniae. Dr. Mirza received several awards and honours during her PhD which included a student travel grant award for Gordon Conference on Structure and Functions of Lactoferrin, held in Hawaii 2005; Gail Castle award for best poster presentation as PhD student and Gail Castel Award for best post-doctoral presentation.
Prior to joining LUMS in 2015, Dr. Mirza served as an Assistant Professor since 2008, at The University of Texas – Houston Health Science Center in the Division of Epidemiology Human Genetics and Environmental Health. While working at the Brownsville (Texas) regional campus Dr. Mirza started elucidating the relationship between immune impairments in type-2 diabetes and their impact on pneumococcal infections in individuals with type-2 diabetes. Her studies are the first to demonstrate impairments in immune mechanisms in type-2 diabetes that are critical for protection against pneumococcal infections.
Dr. Mirza joined LUMS as an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering. Dr. Mirza’s specialised areas of teaching at LUMS include immunology and bacterial pathogenesis, where she continues to develop her studies on association of immune impairments in diabetes with pneumococcal infections. While teaching at LUMS, Dr. Mirza has also developed a lab as part of her programme, which is currently investigating the role of hyperglycemia, characteristic of type-2 diabetes in impairment in immune functions of neutrophils and CD4+T cells. Information derived from these studies will be valuable in developing more targeted vaccines for prevention and control of invasive pneumococcal disease in this high-risk population. Given the global increase in the incidence of type-2 diabetes, the work is of significant public health relevance.
Dr. Mirza is a recognised researcher in the areas of molecular pathogenesis. She has authored several papers in high impact factor journals and serves as an editor for two journals.
| Title | Publication | Author | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evolution of COVID-19 infection in Punjab; trends during five waves of infection in the province of Punjab | BMC Infectious Diseases | 2024 | |
| Pneumococcal carriage and changes in serotype distribution post- PCV13 introduction in children in Matiari, Pakistan | Vaccine | 2024 | |
| Naturally acquired antibodies against 4 Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes in Pakistani adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus | PLoS ONE | 2024 | |
| Strain features of pneumococcal isolates in the pre-and post-PCV10 era in Pakistan | Microbial Genomics | 2024 | |
| Regional and National Trends in Consumption of Antimicrobials in Pakistan; Pre and Post-COVID (2019-2021) | Clinical Infectious Diseases | 2023 | |
| Identification of Multiple Variant Extensively Drug-Resistant Typhoid Infections across Pakistan | American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene | 2023 | |
| A model for the transmission dynamics of pneumococcal pneumonia and influenza co-infection | International Journal of Biomathematics | 2023 | |
| Spontaneous NETosis in diabetes: A role of hyperglycemia mediated ROS and autophagy | Frontiers in Medicine | 2023 | |
| Emergence of a multidrug-resistant and virulent Streptococcus pneumoniae lineage mediates serotype replacement after PCV13: an international whole-genome sequencing study | The Lancet Microbe | 2022 | |
| Raman spectroscopy and machine learning-based optical probe for tuberculosis diagnosis via sputum | Tuberculosis | 2022 | |
| Tuberculosis diagnosis from sputum using Raman spectroscopy | Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE | 2022 | |
| Author Correction: An evaluation of lipid profile and pro-inflammatory cytokines as determinants of cardiovascular disease in those with diabetes: a study on a Mexican American cohort (Scientific Reports, (2021), 11, 1, (2435), 10.1038/s41598-021-81730-6) | Scientific Reports | 2021 | |
| An evaluation of lipid profile and pro-inflammatory cytokines as determinants of cardiovascular disease in those with diabetes: a study on a Mexican American cohort | Scientific Reports | 2021 | |
| Host biomarkers for monitoring therapeutic response in extrapulmonary tuberculosis | Cytokine | 2021 | |
| Trends in antimicrobial resistance amongst pathogens isolated from blood and cerebrospinal fluid cultures in Pakistan (2011-2015): A retrospective cross-sectional study | PLoS ONE | 2021 | |
| Green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles by Neem extract as multi-facet therapeutic agents | Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology | 2020 | |
| An engineered microvirin variant with identical structural domains potently inhibits human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus cellular entry | Viruses | 2020 | |
| PspA facilitates evasion of pneumococci from bactericidal activity of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) | Microbial Pathogenesis | 2019 | |
| Evolution of efficacious pangenotypic hepatitis C virus therapies | Medicinal Research Reviews | 2019 | |
| Estimation of hepatitis C prevalence in the Punjab province of Pakistan: A retrospective study on general population | PLoS ONE | 2019 | |
| The effects of differences in pspA alleles and capsular types on the resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae to killing by apolactoferrin | Microbial Pathogenesis | 2016 | |
| Combined effects of lactoferrin and lysozyme on Streptococcus pneumoniae killing | Microbial Pathogenesis | 2015 | |
| Meeting Physical Activity Guidelines is Associated with Lower Allostatic Load and Inflammation in Mexican Americans | Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health | 2015 | |
| Infection and cellular defense dynamics in a novel 17??-estradiol murine model of chronic human group B streptococcus genital tract colonization reveal a role for hemolysin in persistence and neutrophil accumulation | Journal of Immunology | 2014 | |
| Impaired CD4+ and T-helper 17 cell memory response to Streptococcus pneumoniae is associated with elevated glucose and percent glycated hemoglobin A1c in Mexican Americans with type 2 diabetes mellitus | Translational Research | 2014 |