Dr Bushra Ateeq Wins 2020 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize For Medical Sciences

Dr Bushra Ateeq, an alumna of the Aligarh Muslim University has been awarded India’s Highest Science Award, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award 2020 for her magnificent work in the field of Medical Sciences. She is among the 12 scientists who will be honoured this year. The award is named after the founder Director of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) India, the late Dr Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar and given each year for outstanding performance in Science and Technology.

About Dr Bushra Ateeq

Dr Ateeq who is currently an associate professor in the Department of Biological Engineering and Bioengineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Kanpur completed her education from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). She pursued a B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc, and PhD from the Department of Zoology at AMU. She was also trained as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr Arul Chinnaiyan’s group at the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology, University of Michigan.

Her research interests include Cancer Biomarkers, Cancer Genomics, Non-coding RNAs, Drug Targets, and Prostate Cancer.

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Contributions to the Field of Medical Science

Her work focuses on the cancer of the prostate, breast and colon. Her research is based on cancer biomarkers and molecular events that lead to progression in prostate and breast cancer. “Our lab wants to discover anti-cancer therapeutic targets,” she told FirstPost, adding that these targets will result in early detection of Cancer which is crucial because early detection drastically increases the chances of successful recovery.

In 2019, Dr Ateeq led the team that unravelled the molecular mechanism and pathobiology of the SPINK1-positive prostate cancer subtype. This is the second most recurrent and aggressive and affects about 15% of the patients. “We found that the increased levels of EZH2 protein triggers the reduction in the synthesis of these two microRNAs in SPINK1-positive cancers. And the reduced levels of the two microRNAs in turn lead to over production of SPINK1,” quoted by The Hindu.

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She along with other researchers of IIT Kanpur in collaboration with CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, and other groups working on prostate cancer from Canada, USA, and Finland, in a recent study revealed that Androgen Deprivation Therapy which is used for the treatment of prostate aggravates it instead of curing it. “For now, our findings are alarming, considering the widespread use of androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer patients. A well-informed decision should be taken before administration of anti-androgen therapy to prostate cancer patients,” Professor Ateeq told Research Matters.

Image Credit: amarujala.com

Arunima Sharma is an intern with SheThePeople.TV