biography
Dr. Ajaz A. Bhat completed his Ph.D. from one of the premier institutes (All India Institute of Medical Sciences, AIIMS) in India. During his Ph.D., his main focus of research was the development of peptide based vaccine for Plasmodium vivax Malaria . In addition, he has some experience with HIV and Leprosy. He moved to Vanderbilt University Medical School for postdoctoral fellowship where he joined the Division of Surgical Oncology, Dept. of Surgery. During his five years of training at Vanderbilt, he has gained wide experience in the field of cancer biology. He has attended many international meetings, conferences, symposia to present his research results. Currently he is working as a research scientist in the Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical School, Nashville, Tennessee.
Area of Interest
Immunology of infectious diseases; Cancer Biology; Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy; Cancer Metabolism; Adhesion molecules; Transcription Factors in Immunity and oncognesis; Epithelial Barrier Dysfunctions; Cytokines and Inflammation; Nano-particle drug delivery and Vaccine development.
top publication
1. Iskandarani A, Bhat AA, Siveen KS, Prabhu KS, Kuttikrishnan S, Khan MA, Krishnankutty R, Kulinski M, Nasr RR, Mohammad RM, Uddin S. Bortezomib-mediated downregulation of S-phase kinase protein-2 (SKP2) causes apoptotic cell death in chronic myelogenous leukemia cells. J Transl Med. 2016 Mar 9;14(1):69.
2. Uddin S, Bhat AA, Krishnankutty R, Mir F, Kulinski M, Mohammad RM. Involvement of F-Box proteins in progression and development of human malignancies. Semin Cancer Biol. 2016 Feb;36: 18-32. Review
3. Omar S Khan, Hussain AR, Ajaz A Bhat, Roopesh k, Ramzi M Mohammad. Therapeutic potential of resveratrol in lymphoid malignancies. Nutrition and Cancer. 2015 Dec. Review
4. Ajaz A. Bhat, Jillian Pope, Joshua Smith, Rizwan Ahmad, Xi Chen, Mary K. Washington, R. Daniel Beauchamp, Amar B. Singh and Punita Dhawan. Claudin-7 Expression induces mesenchymal to epithelial transformation(MET) to inhibit colon tumorigenesis. Oncogene. 2015; 34(35): 4570-80.
5. Pope JL, Ahmad R, Bhat AA, Washington MK, Singh AB, Dhawan P. Claudin-1 overexpression in intestinal epithelial cells enhances susceptibility to adenamatous polyposis coli-mediated colon tumorigenesis. Mol Cancer. 2014; 13:167.
6. Patrick Halvey, Xiaojing Wang, Jing Wang, Ajaz Bhat, Punita Dhawan, Ming Li, Bing Zhang, Daniel Liebler, and Robbert Slebos. Proteogenomic analysis reveals adaptions to DNA mismatch repair deficiency in colorectal tumor cells. Cancer Research. 2014; 74: 387-97.
7. Jillian Pope, Ajaz A Bhat, Ashok Sharma, Rizwan Ahmad, Kay Washington, Daniel Beauchamp, Amar Singh and Punita Dhawan. Claudin-1 regulates Intestinal Epithelial Homeostasis through the modulation of Notch Signaling. GUT. 2014; 63:622-34.
8. Ashok Sharma, Ajaz A Bhat, Moorthy Krishnan, Amar B. Singh, Punita Dhawan. Trichostatin-A Modulates Claudin-1 mRNA Stability Through the Modulation of HuR and Tristetraprolin in Colon Cancer Cells. Carcinogenesis. 2013; 34: 2610-21.
9. Sudhir Kumar, Raza Ali Naqvi, Ajaz A. Bhat, Richa Rani, Riyasat Ali, Abhishek Agnihotri, Neena Khanna, D. N. Rao.IL-10 production from dendritic cells is associated with DC SIGN in human leprosy. IMMUNOBIOLOGY. 2013; 218: 1488-96.
10. Ali R, Naqvi RA, Kumar S, Bhat AA, Rao DN. Multiple antigen peptide containing B and T cell epitopes of F1 antigen of Yersinia pestis showed enhanced Th1 immune response in murine model. Scand J Immunol. 2013; 77: 361-7.
11. MohanT, SharmaC, Bhat AA, Rao DN.Modulation of HIV peptide antigen specific cellular immune response by synthetic α- and β-defensin peptides. Vaccine. 2013; 31: 1707-16.
12. Ratanesh K. Seth, Mritunjay Saxena, Ajaz A. Bhat, G.B.K.S. Prasad, Krishnan Hajela, D. N. Rao and Sukla Biswas. DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES AGAINST ERYTHROCYTIC STAGES OF PLASMODIUM VIVAX AND USE IN DETECTION OF MALARIA. International Journal of Basic and Applied Medical Sciences. 2013 Vol. 3 (1) January-April, pp.76-86.
13. Ajaz A Bhat, Ashok Sharma, Jillian Pope, Moorthy B Krishnan, May K. Washington, Amar B.Singh and Punita Dhawan. Caudal Homeobox Protein Cdx-2 Cooperates with Wnt to Regulate Claudin-1 Expression in Colon Cancer Cells. PLoS One. 2012; 7(6): e37174.
14. Jayaprakash B Uppada, Ajaz A Bhat, Anil K Sah, Donthamsetty Nageswara Rao. Enhanced humoral and mucosal immune responses after intranasal immunization with chimeric multiple antigen peptide comprising of defined epitopes of LcrV antigen of Yersinia pestis coupled to palmitate in murine model. Vaccine. 2011; 29: 9352-60.
15. Ratanesh K Seth, Ajaz A Bhat, Donthamsetty N Rao, Sukla Biswas. Acquired immune response to defined Plasmodium vivax antigens in individuals residing in northern India. Microbes Infect. 2010; 12: 199-206.
16. Ajaz A Bhat, Ratnesh K Seth, Sudhir Kumar, Riyasat Ali, Teena Mohan, Sukla Biswas, D N Rao. Induction of cell-mediated immune responses to peptide antigens of P. vivax in microparticles using intranasal immunization. Immunol Invest. 2010; 39: 483-99.
17. Jayaprakash Babu Uppada, Arif Azam Khan, Ajaz A Bhat, Ranjana Deshmukh, Donthamsetty Nageswara Rao. Humoral immune responses and protective efficacy of sequential B- and T-cell epitopes of V antigen of Yersinia pestis by intranasal immunization in microparticles. Med Microbiol Immunol. 2009; 198: 247-56.
18. Ajaz A Bhat, Ratnesh K Seth, Jayaprakash Babu, Sukla Biswas, D N Rao. Induction of mucosal and systemic humoral immune responses in murine system by intranasal immunization with peptide antigens of P. vivax and CpG-Oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) in microparticle delivery. Int Immunopharmacol. 2009; 9: 1197-208.
19. Par Bahadur Pun, Ajaz A Bhat, Teena Mohan, Smita Kulkarni, Ramesh Paranjape and Donthamshetty Nageswara Rao. Intranasal administration of peptide antigens of HIV with mucosal adjuvant CpG ODN coentrapped in microparticles enhances the mucosal and systemic immune responses. Int. Immunopharmacology 2009; 9: 468-477.