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Shamimunisa Begum Mustafa, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

My research interests lie in the area of regulation of lung epithelial ion transport via sodium channels; we are interested in the regulation of sodium channels by synthetic glucocorticoids, cAMP, and proinflammatory mediators. Another main area of interest is the effects of synthetic analogs of dexamethasone in the premature lung. The use of postnatal dex to alleviate respiratory disease in premature babies is limited because of the long-term growth retardation of the developing lung and associated neurological defects in children that were exposed to postnatal dex as preterm babies. The synthetic analogs are currently being assessed in non-human primate lung tissue, mainly I am looking at the efficacy of these agents in elevating markers of lung maturation, e.g. surfactant-associated proteins and sodium channels. In early preterm lung tissue, I am also investigating the effect of these analogs on angiogenic growth factors which are known to promote lung development, in particular, alveolarization. I am also pursuing the area of lung development in caveolin-1 deficient newborn mice, as these mice, as adults are highly susceptible to respiratory infection and do present with lung disease similar to the human lung diseases of COPD and pulmonary fibrosis. More recently, I have focused my efforts on investigating the therapeutic effects of stem cells in animal models of BPD. This project is in collaboration with my division chief, Dr. Steve Seidner, and two international investigators, Drs. Bernard Thebaud and Marius Mobius. I am also investigating the effects of postnatal adaptation and short-term mechanical ventilation on endogenous lung mesenchymal stromal cells using the preterm rabbit model.

Sub-Field of Study: Regulation of Surfactant proteins and angiogenic growth factors. Mesenchymal stromal cell biology

Specific Field of Study: Basic science research

Associated Diseases: Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia, Chronic lung disease prevalent in premature babies

Techniques Used: Physiological, molecular biology