Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Kalsoom Akhtar

Principal Scientist

National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering POBox_577, Jhang Road, Faisalabad, PAKISTAN.

Tel: off:(92-41) 2651475 – 79 Ext. 256

Email:

Date Of Birth: 01- 01-1967 (Faisalabad, Pakistan)

Marital Status: Married, with two sons and one daughter

Nationality: Pakistani

Present Postal Address: P.O. Box No. 577, NIBGE, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

Tel: +92-41- 2651475 -79

Permanent Address: H.No. P-108, St. No.3, Aqsa Town Millat Chowk, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

Tel: +92 –41- 8817608

PhD (Chemistry) University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan (2008)

M.Sc (Chemistry) Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad (1989)

B.Sc. Punjab University, Pakistan (1986)

F.Sc. Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Islamabad (1984).

1. Academic merit scholarship from Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Islamabad (1977- 80).

2. Academic merit scholarship from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad (1987-89).

3. Academic merit scholarship from Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission during my M.Sc studies (1987-89)

1. “Nuclear Orientation Course (NOC)”, held at Centre for Nuclear Studies (CNS) Islamabad (1991, 6 months).

2. “Advanced Biotechnology Courses” Offered by NIBGE in affiliation with Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad (1996, 6 months).

3. “Basic training for organic analysis using GC-MS” organized by Chromatographic Laboratory, Central Analytical Facility Division, PINSTECH, Nilore, Islamabad from August 06 – 17, 2007

A 3 months IAEA training on NMR studies of Nucleosides at Pharmacy/Dentistry Department, university of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada (June-Sept. 2003).

·  Two and a half years research experience on synthesis of organic resins at Applied Chemistry Division (ACD), PINSTECH, Nilore Islamabad.

·  About twenty years research experience in the field of bioprocessing of ores and fossil fuels. Working as Principal Scientist and group leader of “Bioprocessing of ores and fossil fuels” group at Industrial Biotechnology Division of National Institute for Biotechnology & Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad, Pakistan. Research interests include microbiological bioaccumulation of heavy metals/radionuclides for development of bioseparation and bioremediation processes for industrial effluents, bioleaching of precious/heavy metals from low grade ores and biodeulfurization of fossil fuels especially coal, biosynthesis & biotransformations of bio-active compounds.

·  Extensive experience of working on Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS), Elemental Analyser (CHNS/O), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), HPLC, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), Gel Electrophoresis, PGSTAT12, and Chromatographic techniques.

·  Incharge quality control analytical services provided to other agencies in the field of textile product, food and water analysis at Industrial Biotechnology Division, NIBGE.

·  Convener of Institutional “Project Evaluation Committee” at NIBGE.

·  Member of list of Supervisors identified by Higher Education Commission for Ph.D. programme

·  Faculty Member of NIBGE for Postgraduate Studies in Biotechnology leading to M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees.

·  Act as External Examiner for M.Sc./M.Phil. Examinations at University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

·  Act as External Examiner for B.Sc.(Hons)/M.Sc. Examinations at Government College University Faisalabad, Pakistan.

M.Sc Degree

1. Effect of chemical pre-treatments on lead biosorption by using Trichoderma harzianum. Ms. Sadaf Javeed, GC University, Faisalabad, Session 2003-2005.

2. Optimizing zinc removal from aqueous solution by filamentous fungus Trichoderma harzianum. Ms Mudassir Jabeen, GC University, Faisalabad, Session 2003-2005.

3. Biosorption of cadmium from aqueous solution by dead Trichoderma harzianum. Ms Aisha Saddiqa , GC University, Faisalabad, Session 2003-2005.

M.Phil Degree

1. Application of RAPD for Genomic Analysis of Different Strains of Thiobacilli and their Kinetic Studies. Ms Tanveer Akbar, University of Quaid-i-Azam, Session 1999-2000.

2. Studies on Biosynthesis of Tylosin Using Streptomyces fradiae NRRL-2702. Ms Aqueela Sharif, University of Quaid-i-Azam, Session 2000-2001.

3. Hyper Production of Tylosin by Streptomyces fradiae NRRL-2702 through genetic manipulations. Ms Riffat Tahira, University of Quaid-i-Azam, Session 2001-2003.

4. Stability Studies of Immobilized Glucose Oxidase for Glucose Biosensor Fabrication. Mr. Sakandar Raouf, University of Quaid-i-Azam, Session 2002-2004.

5. Construction of fungal RNAi vector for silencing of cahB gene in fungus Acremonium chrysogenum. Mr. Muhammad Muddassar, University of Quaid-i-Azam, Session 2003-2005.

6. Development of enzyme biosensor employing different matrices. Ms Ayesha Ihsan, University of Quaid-i-Azam, Session 2003-2005.

7. Immobilization of Salmon sperm DNA on glassy carbon electrode and its applications to study the drug-DNA interaction. Mr Haq Nawaz, University of Quaid-i-Azam, Session 2004-2006.

8. Irradiation mutagenesis of wild Streptomyces fradiae (NRRL 2702) for hyper production of tylosin. Ms. Ruqia Iqbal, University of Quaid-i-Azam, Session 2004-2006.

9. Effect of pH on electrochemical characterization of Tylosin-DNA interaction. Ms. Farah Majeed, University of Quaid-i-Azam, Session 2005-2007.

10. Optimization of process parameters for tylosin production using solid state fermentation by wild type Streptomyces fradiae NRRL-2702 and its gamma irradiated mutant. Ms. Nosheen Rasheed, University of Quaid-i-Azam, Session 2005-2007.

11. Development and optimization of analytical technique to study the interaction of various drugs with DNA biosensor. Ms Bushra Rafique, GC University Faisalabad, 2009.

12. Effect of pretreatments on biosorption of lead by Trichoderma harzianum. Ms Nabeela Saleem, PIEAS, Islamabad, Session 2009-2011.

13. Extraction of humic acids from native and fungal treated Thar lignite coal. Ms Madiha J. Ghani, PIEAS, Islamabad, Session 2011-2013. (In progress)

Ph.D Degree

1.  Development of low cost methodologies for the removal of some toxic metals (Pb, Zn) using fungal biomass. Mrs. Kiran Aftab, Govt. College University, Faisalabad, 2013 (waiting for viva)

1. Five Days Workshop on LCMS, GCMS & AAS: The Powerful Techniques for the Analysis of Inorganic, Organic and Biomaterials (April 25-29, 2011), NIBGE, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

2. Two Day National Workshop on “Bioclean Coal Technologies: A Step towards the Use of Indigenous Resources of Coal” (November 7-8, 2012), NIBGE, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Citations given below against each publication have been taken from following links:

ISI Web of Science (http://portal.isiknowledge.com/portal.cgi?DestApp=WOS&Func=Frame),

Science Direct (http://www.sciencedirect.com)

PAPERS PUBLISHED IN REFEREED INTERNATIONAL JOURNALS /PROCEEDINGS

1. Hasan M., Rashid N., Akhtar K., Osman S., Malik F. and Duddeck H 1992. Preparation, separation and NMR spectral peak assignement of regioisomeric unsymmetrical benzimidazoles. Journal of the Chemical Society of Pakistan 14 (1) 54-59 (Impact Factor 0.0, Citation 4, MAR 1992)

2. Hasan M., Rashid N., Akhtar K., Osman S., Malik F. and Duddeck H. 1993. Preparation, separation and 1H NMR spectral peak assignement to some regioisomeric unsymmetrical benzimidazoles. Revue Roumaine De Chimie, 38(6), 711-718 (Impact Factor 0.331, Citation 3, JUN 1993)

3. Ahmad Z.., Ghauri M. A., Anwar M. A., Iqbal M., Rehman M., Akhtar K. and Khalid A. M. 2002. Transformations of plasmids of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans encoding ampicillin resistanc to Escherichia coli strain DH5a for detecting copper tolerance genes on such plasmids. Resource and Environ. Biotech. 3: 185-191(Citation 5)

4. Akbar T., Akhtar K., Ghauri M. A., Anwar M. A., Rahman M., Rehman M., Zafar Y. and Khalid M. A. 2005. Relationship among acidophilic bacteria from diverse environments as determined by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis (RAPD). World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 21(5): 645-648 (Impact Factor 1.262, Citation 4, Published: JUL 2005)

5. Rauf S., Gooding J. J., Akhtar K., Ghauri M. A., Rahman M., Anwar M. A. and Khalid A. M. 2005. Electrochemical approach of anti-cancer drugs-DNA interaction. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis. 37 (2), 205-217 (Impact Factor 2.947, Citation 133, Published FEB 23 2005)

6.* Rauf S., Ihsan A., Akhtar K., Ghauri M.A., Rahman M., Anwar M. A. and Khalid A. M. 2006. Glucose oxidase immobilization on a novel cellulose acetate-polymethylmethacrylate membrane. Journal of Biotechnology 121(3), 351-360 (Impact Factor: 3.183, Citation: 63, Published: FEB 10 2006)

* This paper has been awarded Rs. 50,000 cash prize by HEC in a national contest for top quality papers published in the area of Biology

7. Nawaz H., Rauf S., Akhtar K. and Khalid A. M. 2006. Electrochemical DNA biosensor for the study of Ciprofloxacin-DNA interaction. Analytical Biochemistry 354 (1), 28-34. (Impact Factor: 2.582, Citation: 26, Published: JUL 1 2006)

8. Rauf S., Nawaz H, Akhtar K., Ghauri M.A and Khalid A. M. 2007. Studies on sildenafil citrate (viagra) interaction with DNA using electrochemical DNA biosensor. Biosensors and Bioelectronics 22 (11), 2471-2477. (Impact Factor: 5.437, Citation: 19, Published: MAY 15, 2007)

9. Akhtar K., Akhtar M. W. and Khalid A. M. 2007. Removal and recovery of uranium from aqueous solutions by Trichoderma harzianum. Water Research 41 (6), 1366-1378. (Impact Factor 4.655, Citation: 59, Published: MAR 2007)

10. Hanif M. A., Nadeem R., Nadeem M., Akhtar K. and Bhatti H. N. 2007. Kinetic studies for Ni (II) biosorption from industrial wastewater by Cassia fistula (Golden Shower) biomass. J. Hazard. Mater. 145 (3), 501-505. (Impact Factor: 3.925, Citation: 34, Published: JUL 16, 2007)

11. Nasir M. H., Nadeem R., Akhtar K., Hanif M. A. and Khalid A. M. 2007. Efficacy of modified distillation sludge of rose (Rosa centifolia) petals for lead(II) and zinc(II) removal from aqueous solutions. J. Hazard. Mater. 147 (3), 1006-1014. (Impact Factor: 3.925, Citation: 52, Published: AUG 25, 2007)

12. Munawar N., Anwar M.A., Saleem M., Ghauri M. A. and Akhtar K. 2007. Biodepyritization of indigenous coal using acidophilic mesophilic and moderately thermophilic bacteria. Pakistan Journal of Zoology 39 (3), 147-151. (Impact Factor: 0.309, Citation: 0, Published: 2007)

13. Akhtar, N., Ghauri, M. A., Iqbal, A., Anwar, M. A. and Akhtar, K., 2008. Biodiversity and phylogenetic analysis of culturable bacteria indigenous to Khewra salt mine of Pakistan and their industrial importance. Brazilian Journal of Microbiology 39 (1), 143-150. (Impact Factor: 0.762, Citation: 7, Published: JAN-MAR, 2008)

14. Akhtar K., Akhtar M. W. and Khalid A. M. 2008. Removal and recovery of zirconium from its aqueous solution by Candida tropicalis. J. Hazard. Mater. 156 (1-3), 108-117 (Impact Factor: 3.925, Citation: 13, Published; AUG 15, 2008)

15. Khaliq S., Akhtar K., Ghauri M. A., Iqbal R., Khalid A. M. and Mudasssar M. 2009. Change in colony morphology and kinetics of tylosin production after UV and gamma irradiation mutagenesis of Streptomyces fradiae NRRL-2702. Microbiological Research 164, 469-477 (Impact Factor: 1.993, Citation: 11, JULY 15, 2009)

16. Rehman M., Anwar M. A., Iqbal M., Akhtar K., Khalid A. M., Ghauri M. A. 2009. Bioleaching of high grade Pb-Zn ore by mesophilic and moderately thermophilic iron and sulphur oxidizers. Hydrometallurgy 97 (1-2) 1-7. (Impact Factor: 2.169, Citation: 3, Published: JUN, 2009)

17. Akhtar K., Khalid A. M, Akhtar M. W. and. Ghauri M. A. 2009. Removal and recovery of uranium from aqueous solutions by Ca-alginate immobilized Trichoderma harzianum. Bioresource Technology 100, 4551-4558. (Impact Factor: 4.750, Citation: 34 Published: MAY 24, 2009)

18. Nadeem R., Ansari T. M., Akhtar K. and Khalid A. M. 2009. Pb(II) sorption by pyrolysed Pongamia pinnata pods carbon (PPPC). Chemical Engineering Journal 152, 54-63. (Impact Factor: 3.473, Citation: 7, published: 2009)

19. Khaliq S., Rashid N., Akhtar K. and Ghauri M. A. 2009. Production of tylosin in solid state fermentation by Streptomyces fradiae NRRL-2702 and its gamma irradiated mutant (γ-1). Letters in Applied Microbiology 49, 635-640. (Impact Factor: 1.629, Citation: 0, Published: JUN, 2009)

20. Akhtar N., Ghauri M. A. Anwar M. A. Akhtar K. 2009. Analysis of the dibenzothiophene metabolic pathway in a newly isolated Rhodococcus spp. FEMS Microbiology Letters 301, 95-102. (Impact Factor: 2.049, Citation: 2, Published: JUN, 2009)

21. Jamil M. S., Nadeem R., Hanif M. A., Ali M. A. and Akhtar K. 2010. Proximate composition and mineral profile of eight different unstudied date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) varieties from Pakistan. African Journal of Biotechnology 9(22), 3252-3259. (Impact Factor: 0, Citation: 4, Published: May 2010)

22. Aftab K., Akhtar K., Jabbar A., Rana S. M., Samoor Y. and Ghauri M. A. 2012. Process optimization and mechanistic studies of lead (II): Aspergillus caespitosus interaction for industrial effluent treatment. African Journal of Biotechnology 11(95), 16142-16157.

23.  Haider R., Ghauri M. A., SanFilipo J. R., Jones E. J., Oremb W. H., Tatu C. A., Akhtar, K. and Akhtar N. 2013. Fungal degradation of coal as a pretreatment for methane production. Fuel 104, 717-725(Impact Factor: 3.357)

24. Rafique B., Khalid A. M., Akhtar K. and Jabbar A. 2013. Interaction of anticancer drug methotrexate with DNA analyzed by electrochemical and spectroscopic methods. Biosensors and Bioelectronics 44, 21–26. . (Impact Factor: 5.437; Citation 2)

25. Khaliq S., Ghauri M. A. and Akhtar K. 2013. Isolation, identification and optimization of fermentation parameters for improved production of antimicrobial compounds from indigenous Streptomyces isolates. African Journal of Microbiology Research 7(18), 1874-1887.

26. Zafar H., Nadeem R., Gill R., Saeed R., Iqbal T. and Akhtar K. 2013. Exclusion of Zn (II) from aqueous solution using corncob (Zea mays stalk) after chemical modifications with inorganic acids and bases. Desalination and Water Treatment. In Press (Impact Factor: 0.852)

27. Aftab K., Akhtar K., Jabba, A., Bukhari I.H., Noreen R. 2013. Physico-chemical study for zinc removal and recovery onto native/chemically modified Aspergillus flavus NA9 from industrial effluent, Water Research (2013), doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2013.04.051(Impact Factor 4.655)

PAPERS PUBLISHED IN INTERNATIONAL PROCEEDINGS

1. Khalid A. M., Anwar M. A., Shemsi A. M., Niazi G. and Akhtar K. 1993. Biohydrometallurgy of low-grade carbonate bearing sandstone uranium ore. pp. 285-292. In: Torma, A. E., Apel M. L. and Brierley, C. L. (eds) Biohydrometallurgical Technologies, Volume I, The Minerals, Metals and Material Society, Pennsylvania, USA. (Citation 3)

2. Khalid A. M., Ashfaq S. R., Bhatti T. M., Anwar M. A., Shemsi A. M. and Akhtar K. 1993. The uptake of microbially leached uranium by immobilized microbial biomass. pp. 299-307. In: Torma, A. E., Wey, J. E., and Lakshmanan, V. I. (eds). Biohydrometallurgical Technologies, Fossil Energy, Materials, Bioremediation, Microbial Physiology, Volume II, The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society, Pennysylvania, USA. (Citation 3)

3. Khalid A. M., Shemsi A. M., Akhtar K. and Anwar M. A. 1993. Uranium biosorption by Trichoderma harzianum entrapped in polyester foam beads. pp. 309-317. In: Torma, A. E., Wey, J. E., and Lakshmanan, V. I. (eds). Biohydrometallurgical Technologies, Fossil Energy, Materials, Bioremediation, Microbial Physiology, Volume II, The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society, Pennysylvania, USA. (Citation 5)

4. Khalid A. M., Anwar M. A., Shemsi A. M. and Akhtar K. 1993. Genetic manipulation of iron and sulfur oxidizing bacteria for biohydrometallurgical operations. pp. 629-634. In: Torma, A. E., Wey, J. E., and Lakshmanan, V. I. (eds). Biohydrometallurgical Technologies, Fossil Energy, Materials, Bioremediation, Microbial Physiology, Volume II, The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society, Pennysylvania, USA. (Citation 1)