Shaista Arif

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Research Assistant

School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Pakistan

Email: shaistaarif.sbs@pu.edu.pk

 

 

 

 

VALIDATE Role:

Network Associate

 

Research Keywords:

TB Diagnosis, Vaccine Research

 

Biography:

In doctoral research, I developed novel recombinant fusion proteins from different antigens of M. tuberculosis to improve the sensitivity and specificity of serodiagnostic ELISA tests for TB and also evaluated T-cell immune responses for potential subunit vaccine candidates against MTB. As a dedicated researcher, I am eager to contribute my expertise in diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccine development for TB. I am proficient in basic molecular biology, immunology and biochemical techniques. I have good hands-on experience in MTB fusion protein designing, molecular cloning, recombinant protein production in bacterial systems, protein purification using AKTA-FPLC system, Western blotting, ELISA based diagnostic, Immunoinformatics and IFN-gamma release assays with a solid track record of successful projects. I have published research papers in peer-reviewed journals and effectively presented research findings in both written and oral formats at conferences.  

 

Related Websites:

LinkedIn

 

Key Publications:

  • Arif Shaista, Akhter Mohsina, Anwar Aqsa, Javaid Sania, Ashi Zara, Shad Mohsin,Rahman Asad, Abbas Huda, Ashraf Fuzia, Akhtar MW, Sajjad Mohammad (2025). Immunological assessment of NSFu1: A novel fusion molecule constructed from structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2 for improving COVID-19 antibody detection. Archives of Microbiology. 207(4):88. 
  • Arif Shaista, Farheen Aslam (2025). Designing and validation of a next-generation multiepitope vaccine from conserved hypothetical antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with immunoinformatics approaches. Computers in Biology and Medicine. (Submitted).  
  • Arif Shaista, Farheen Aslam (2025). Assessment of the serological potential of M. tuberculosis fusion antigens through antibody reactivity analysis. Molecular biotechnology (Submitted).  
  • Arif, Shaista, Mohsina Akhter, Aasia Khaliq, Zaib un Nisa, Imran H. Khan, and Muhammad Waheed Akhtar. "Serodiagnostic evaluation of fusion proteins from multiple antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis for active TB." Tuberculosis. 127 (2021): 102053. 
  • Akhter, Mohsina, Shaista Arif, Aasia Khaliq, Zaib un Nisa, Imran H. Khan, and Muhammad Waheed Akhtar. "Designing fusion molecules from antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis for detection of multiple antibodies in plasma of TB patients." Tuberculosis. 124 (2020): 101981.
  • Arif, Shaista, Akhter, M., Khaliq, A., and Akhtar, M., W. (2022). “Fusion peptide constructs from antigens of M. tuberculosis producing high Th1-cell mediated immune response”. Plos One. 17(9): e0271126.
  • Arif, Shaista, Mohsina Akhtar, Mohsin Shad, and Muhammad Waheed Akhtar. "Recombinant production of Mtb antigens and their purification by affinity chromatography." PAKISTAN JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. 2022; 55(4): 226-231.