Prof. Dr. Kashif Asghar

Associate Director-Clinical Research

Research Center

Research Interest

Transplantation immunology, Immuno-oncology & Immunotherapy, Biobanking, Data Science & Epidemiology.

Overview

Dr. Kashif Asghar has been involved in academia and research for the past 20 years. He served as a Research Scientist at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre (SKMCH&RC), where he participated in both basic science and clinical research. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), where he taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses and held administrative responsibilities. He was the focal person in establishing the biobank at SKMCH&RC and the laboratory animal house at NUST. Additionally, he is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Central Punjab (UCP) and the University of Health Sciences (UHS). Dr. Asghar collaborates on research projects with several universities/institutes and has published numerous research papers in reputable journals.

Education & Training

  • Qualification in Biorepository Science (QBRS) – American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), 2024

  • Ph.D. in Virology & Immunology, NUST/ Newcastle University, UK, 2015

  • Ph.D. fellowship from Institute of Cellular Medicine, Medical Sciences Research Centre, Immunobiology & Transplantation research group, medical school, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

  • The Master Research Sciences, Health, Technology, Biological and Medical Sciences, speciality Biology, Biotechnology and Therapeutic Research, University of Nantes, France, 2005

  • Master research fellowship from INSERM (National Institute of Medical Research & Health), U643, UMR_S 1064 Center for Research in Transplantation and Translational Immunology, (Institute of Transplantation-Urology-Nephrology, ITUN), Nantes, France, 2005

  • BD FACS CALIBUR System key operator training course attended, Singapore 2010.

  • Training on handling of lab instruments, lab animal and biohazard techniques, Bordeaux, France, 2005.

Publications

  • Community outreach and engagement in cancer research through biobank clinic at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Pakistan (2024), Cureus Journal of Medical Science (doi: 10.7759/cureus.55179)

  • Fingerprinting hyperglycemia using predictive modelling approach based on low-cost routine CBC and CRP diagnostics (2024), Scientific Reports (doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-44623-4).

  • Impact of SSO-ASTRO margin guidelines on re-excision rate in breast conserving surgery: A single centre experience (2024), Journal of Cancer& Allied Specialties (doi: 10.37029/jcas.v10i1.559).

  • Expression of PD-L1 Clones (22C3 and 28-8) in hepatocellular carcinoma: A tertiary cancer care hospital experience (2023), Egyptian Liver Journal (doi.org/10.1186/s43066-024-00310-1).

  • PD-L1 is fascinating but IDO needs attention in non-HCV and non-HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma patients (2023), Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (doi: 10.2147/jhc.s409741).

  • High indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase expression along with low bridging integrator-1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma patients (2023), Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention (doi: 10.31557/apjcp.2023.24.5.1591).

  • IDO: a novel immunotherapeutic target for osteosarcoma (2023), Journal of Cancer& Allied Specialties (doi: 10.37029/jcas.v9i1.501).

  • Immunotherapy and targeted therapy for lung cancer: current status and future perspectives (2022), Frontiers in Pharmacology (doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.1035171).

  • Experiences of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre biobank during COVID-19 pandemic (2022), Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention (doi: 10.31557/apjcp.2022.23.9.2879).

  • COVID-19 in cancer patients with diabetes in Pakistan: clinical features and management (2022), Frontiers in Oncology (doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.922579).

  • Efficacy of radioiodine therapy in the patients diagnosed with primary hyperthyroidism from Pakistan (2022), in Cureus Journal of Medical Science (doi: 10.7759/cureus.24992).

  • Radiation therapy outcomes in pituitary macroadenoma from Pakistan (2022), Biomedical Reports (doi: 10.3892/br.2022.1594).

  • Establishment of biobanking facility at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre (SKMCH&RC) Lahore, Pakistan (2021), Cell and Tissue Banking (doi: 10.1007/s10561-021-09957-1).

  • Clinical characteristics of COVID-19-infected cancer patients in Pakistan: differences between survivors and non-survivors (2021), Frontiers in Oncology (doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.655634).

  • Forkhead box P3 and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase co-expression in Pakistani triple negative breast cancer patients (2020), World Journal of Clinical Oncology (doi: 10.5306/wjco.v11.i12.1018).

  • Review of 10 years of research on breast cancer patients: focus on indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase (2021), World Journal of Clinical Oncology (doi: 10.5306/wjco.v12.i6.429).

  • Association between cyclooxygenase-2 and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase expression in breast cancer patients from Pakistan (2019), Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention (doi: 10.31557/apjcp.2019.20.11.3521).

  • Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase expression and overall survival in patients diagnosed with breast cancer from Pakistan (2019), Cancer Management and Research (doi: 10.2147/cmar.s184221).

  • Indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase as an immunotherapeutic target brings a new hope for cancer patients (2018), Journal of Cancer& Allied Specialties (doi:10.37029/jcas.v4i3.175).

  • Potential role of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase in primary biliary cirrhosis (2017), Oncology letters (doi: 10.3892/ol.2017.6834).

  • Bystander mutagenesis via oxidative metabolism (2017), in OncoTargets and Therapy (doi: 10.2147/ott.s136076).

  • Indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase: as a potential prognostic marker and immunotherapeutic target for hepatocellular carcinoma (2017), World Journal of Gastroenterology (doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i13.2286)

  • Nanomedicine and cancer immunotherapy: focus on indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase inhibitors (2017), OncoTargets and Therapy (doi: 10.2147/ott.s119362).

  • Structural and functional annotation of human FAM26F: A multifaceted protein having a critical role in the immune system (2016), Gene (doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2016.10.029).

  • Role of inflammatory cytokines in depression: focus on IL-1β (2016), in Biomedical Reports (doi: 10.3892/br.2016.807).

  • Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase expression and activity in the patients with HCV induced liver cirrhosis (2014), Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine Journal (doi: 10.3892/etm.2014.2146).

  • Prevalence of TP53 germ line mutations in young Pakistani breast cancer patients (2012), Familial Cancer Journal (doi: 10.1007/s10689-012-9509-7).

  • Identification of the deleterious 2080insA BRCA1 mutation in a male renal cell carcinoma patient from a consanguineous cancer family from Pakistan (2011), Familial Cancer Journal (doi: 10.1007/s10689-011-9467-5).

  • Indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase expands human CD4+ CD25 high regulatory T cells by promoting maturation of LPS-treated dendritic cells (2007), European Journal of Immunology (doi: 10.1002/eji.200636704).

  • Heme oxygenase-1 inhibits rat and human breast cancer cells proliferation: mutual cross inhibition with indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase (2005), Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (doi: 10.1096/fj.05-3875com).