Mirza Group

May , 2022-  Congratulation Dr. Shama Mirza for the nomination of the Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year

. Congratulation, Dr. Mirza! 

May , 2022-  Ranjak Joshi received Support for Undergraduate Research Fellow (SURF) award from the Office of Undergraduate Research, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Congratulation, Ranjak! 

April 22nd, 2022-  Mohiminul Islam received 3rd place for the graduate poster award during the Chemistry & Biochemistry Annual Research Symposium  for his poster titled "Estimation of Carmofur and 5-Fluorouracil in Plasma and Other Biological Tissues Using Mass Spectrometry". Congratulation, Mo! 

April 15th, 2022- Mohiminul Islam successfully defended his thesis titled "In Vitro and In Vivo Identification and Quantification of Carmofur and 5-Fluorouracil using Tandem Mass Spectrometry". Congratulations  Dr. Islam!

 March 7th, 2022- Dr. Andrew Fuchs will be presenting his poster at the 70th ASMS Conference in Minneapolis, MN on the 9th of June, 2022. The title of his poster is "Stable isotope tracing method development for compound-specific food web analysis in Sarracenia purpurea micro-ecosystems ". Please check out the presentation. 

March, 2022- Ethan Kub was recently quoted for his completion of MIDD research assistantship. Link. 

Feb, 2022- Congratulation Prof. Shama Mirza on receiving the Research Assistant Fund (RAF) Grant from Office of Research, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Congrats!

Oct, 2021- Congratulation Mohammad Mohiminul Islam on receiving the Student Travel Assistance Award ($400) to attend the 69th Annual ASMS conference in Philadelphia, PA from the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Mohiminul will be presenting a poster entitled "Simultaneous quantitative bioanalysis of carmofur and 5-fluorouracil by LC-MS/MS with an application to drug distribution study in mice". Congrats Mohiminul!

Sept, 2021- Our excellent undergraduate researchers and undergraduate volunteers have continued their academic career by pursuing professional/graduate school. Below are the list of our undergraduate alumni and their current academic career. 

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1. Maixee Yang – joined PhD in Chemistry, UW-Madison (Fall, 2020)

2. Marwat Salamin – Doctor of Medicine (MD), UW-Madison School of Medicine (Fall, 2019)

3. Petra Stevanovic – Pharmacy School, Medical College of Wisconsin (Fall, 2019

4. Stephen Stevanovic – Doctor of Medicine (MD), Medical College of Wisconsin (Fall, 2021)

5. Fernanda Piorino - joined PhD in Chemical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology (Fall, 2018)

June, 2021- Congratulations Vilashini Rajaratnam on getting selected for the UWM-MilliporeSigma Summer Research Fellowship.  The collaboration between UWM and MIlliporeSigma  provides an excellent  introduction of the role on scientist in industrial setting. Vila will be working on developing GCMS method for the determination of trace level impurities in solvents for this summer. Congrats! 

April 23, 2021- Congratulations Ethan Kub on the poster titled "Development of an LC-MS Method to Quantify Ceramide Levels and Test Combination Therapies on Glioblastoma Cancer Cells" getting a Honorable-Mentioned Poster for the UWM Chemistry & Biochemistry Annual Symposium (2021) Poster presentation. Congrats! 

April 21, 2021- Mohiminul Islam presented  his poster titled "Development and validation of LC-MS/MS method for quantitative bioanalysis of carmofur in rat plasma" LIVE in Large Event Poster II (Row 15) during the conference . Link

April 5 - 30, 2021- Vilashini Rajaratnam is presenting her poster at ACS Spring 2021 Virtual Meeting and Expo (MEDI) titled "Physiochemical properties of ARN14988, an acid ceramidase inhibitor, a potential drug for glioblastoma". Link

April 5 - 30, 2021- Mohiminul Islam is presenting his poster at ACS Spring 2021 Virtual Meeting and Expo (ANYL) titled "PAMPA-BBB permeability of acid ceramidase inhibitors using LC-MS/MS and UV-Vis spectrophotometry". Link

November 24, 2020- Maixee Yang, our undergraduate student, was awarded as 2020 Undergraduate Award in Analytical Chemistry. Congrats!

August, 2020 -Congratulations

Prof. Shama Mirza on getting promoted to tenured - Associate Professor  in Chemistry & Biochemistry Department of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Congrats! Link

July 1, 2020 -Congratulations

to Dr. Erica Young and Dr. Shama Mirza on receiving Discovery and Innovation Grant (DIG) for the work on "Developing Tools to Investigate Ecosystem Functions in Model Pitcher Plant Communities".  Link

April 10, 2020 -Congratulations

Dr. Shama Mirza, Vilashini Rajaratnam, Mohammad Mohiminul Islam, Maixee Yang, Rachel Slaby, and Hilda Martinez Ramirez on publishing new review article in Cancers journal entitled "Glioblastoma: Pathogenesis and Current Status of Chemotherapy and Other Novel Treatments". Congrats! Link

March 17, 2020 -Congratulations

Dr. Shama Mirza, Mohiminul Islam, and Vilashini Rajaratnam on publishing new article in Neuro-Oncology Advances journal entitled "Proteins inform survival-based differences in patients with glioblastoma". Link

January, 2020 - We would like to welcome Ethan Kub, our new graduate student, to Mirza Lab. Welcome to the Group!

August 7, 2019- Mai Xee Yang, our undergraduate, presented a research presentation and poster in the 28th Annual McNair Research Presentations & Award Ceremony. Mai Xee Yang was also awarded as the UWM McNair Scholar. 

April 26, 2019- Maixee Yang, our undergraduate student, was awarded as Chemistry Emeritus  Award for Outstanding Student in Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. Congrats!

April 25-26, 2019 - Mohiminul Islam, our graduate student, and the Chemistry

Graduate Student Council have successfully organized the Chemistry & Biochemistry Research Symposium & Award Day 2019. 

May 7, 2019 - Stephen Stevanovic was invited to join UWM's Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, a chapter that is exclusive for only the top 10% of students from on 10% of the nation's college and university. 

April 5, 2019 - Hilda Martinez Ramirez, our undergraduate student, won the Outstanding Presentation for the 11th Annual UWM Undergraduate Symposium for her poster on "Role of Acid Ceramidase in Xenografted Zebrafish". Congrats! Link

Spring, 2019 - Dr. Shama Mirza was featured in Chemistry & Biochemistry Spring 2019 Departmental Newsletter for her research in unlocking answers to Glioblastoma. Link

January 21, 2019 - Dr. Mirza was interviewed by MedicalXpress, a science news service, regarding Glioblastoma Multiforme. Link

Fall, 2018 - Madeline Dzikowski, our undergraduate student, was featured in Chemistry & Biochemistry Departmental  Newsletter in the column "Recent Undergraduate Spotlight". Link

Summer, 2018 - Kristen Meyer, our undergraduate student, won second prize for the Best Poster Award for Summer SURF Program 2018. Congrats! Link

July 16, 2018 - Dr. Shama Mirza was invited to give a lecture on "Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomics to Identify New and Efficient Treatment Options for Glioblastoma" at the Bioengineering Colloquium in SRM Institute of Science and Technology, India. 

June 3-7, 2018 - Dr. Shama Mirza chaired the oral session "Imaging: Biomedical Applications" for the ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics in San Diego, California. 

April 16, 2018 - Congratulation to Dr. Shama Mirza and her collaborator, Dr. Michael Laiosa, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, on the Research Growth Initiative (RGI) Awards for the work on"Regulation of Cellular Respiration by Aryl-Hydrocarbon Receptor during Hematopoiesis". Congrats! Link.

September, 2016 - Congratulation to Dr. Mirza receiving NIH grant. The overall goal for this project is to develop a point of care, easy to use, reproducible, and accurate diagnostic tool to facilitate early and instantaneous detection of unknown silent obstructive kidney disease and may save many lives. Congrats! Link. 

May , 2022-  Ali Alyousef received the Outstanding New SI Leader Award from the Tutoring & Supplemental Instruction Student Success Center, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Congratulation, Ali! 

April 29th, 2022-  Ali Alyousef, Jermarcus Lewis and Ranjak Joshi presented poster during the 14th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. Ali presented poster titled "Estimation of Carmofur and 5-Fluorouracil in Plasma and Other Biological Tissues Using Mass Spectrometry". Jermarcus and and Ranjak presented poster titled "Quantification of Ceramides & Sphingosine 1-phosphate Levels In vitro in U87MG cells after Administration of ASAH1 Inhibitors Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry". 

April 22nd, 2022- Vilashini Rajaratnam, Mohiminul Islam, and Ali Alyousef presented poster during the Chemistry & Biochemistry Annual Research Symposium. Vilashini presented poster entitled "Spatial Distribution of ARN14988 in Mouse brain using  Imaging Mass Spectrometry". Mohiminul Islam and Ali Alyousef presented poster titled "Estimation of Carmofur and 5-Fluorouracil in Plasma and Other Biological Tissues Using Mass Spectrometry". 

March 7th, 2022- Vilashini Rajaratnam successfully defended her thesis titled "Physicochemical Properties, Pharmacokinetics, and Biodistribution of ARN14988 , an Acid Ceramidase Inhibitor, and its Potential as Chemotherapeutic Agent for Glioblastoma". Congratulations  Dr. Rajaratnam!

 March 7th, 2022-Ethan Kub will be presenting his poster at the 70th ASMS Conference in Minneapolis, MN on the 9th of June, 2022. The title of his poster is "Comprehensive Characterization of Ceramides in Glioblastoma using Mass Spectrometry". Please check out the presentation. 

Feb, 2022- Congratulation Prof. Shama Mirza (Co-PI) and Prof. John Imig (Medical college of Wisconsin on receiving the Clinical & Translational Science Institute if  Southeast Wisconsin (CSTI) grant. Congrats!

Oct, 2021- Congratulation Vilashini Rajaratnam on receiving the Graduate Student Travel  Award ($1000) to attend the 69th Annual ASMS conference in Philadelphia, PA from the Graduate School, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Vilashini will be presenting a poster entitled "LC-MS/MS method development and validation for quantification of ARN14988, an acid ceramidase inhibitor, in mouse model". Congrats Vilashini!

Feb, 2021- Miranda Ramirez-Vang, mentee of Prof. Shama Mirza from WiscAMP program, was recently featured in PBS Wisconsin Education. Link

Aug, 2021- Congratulations Ethan Kub on getting selected for the Milwaukee Institute for  Drug Discovery  TA Assistantship for Fall 2021. Ethan will be working on novel drug development while mentoring an undergraduate researcher. Congrats! 

May, 2021- Congratulations Vilashini Rajaratnam on receiving Distinguished Dissertator Fellowship Award for 2021-2022 from the Graduate School of UWM. The Distinguished Dissertation Fellowship (DDF) award recognizes and supports the most academically excellent PhD students who have achieved dissertator status at UWM. Vilashini is nominated for this award by the UWM Chemistry Department and compete with other nominees from across the university. Congrats! 

April 21, 2021- Vilashini Rajaratnam presented  her poster titled "Development and validation of an LC-MS/MS method for the quantitative determination of ARN14988, an acid ceramidase inhibitor, in rat mode" LIVE in Large Event Poster II (Row 16) during the conference . Link

April 5 - 30, 2021- Mohiminul Islam is presenting his poster at ACS Spring 2021 Virtual Meeting and Expo (ANYL) titled "Development and validation of LC-MS/MS method for quantitative bioanalysis of carmofur in rat plasma". Link

April 5 - 30, 2021- Vilashini Rajaratnam is presenting her poster at ACS Spring 2021 Virtual Meeting and Expo (ANYL) titled "Development and validation of an LC-MS/MS method for the quantitative determination of ARN14988, an acid ceramidase inhibitor, in rat model". Link

January 4, 2021- Congratulations to Dr. Mirza on her recent publication "Comprehensive serum proteomic analysis in early endometrial cancer" on Journal of Proteomics. Link

August 20, 2020 -Congratulations

Vilashini Rajaratnam for passing with flying colors for her Preliminary Comprehensive Oral Examination. Congrats! Link

July 13, 2020 - UWM University Safety and Assurances (US&A) has completed its review of Mirza Lab's Research Operations Safety Plan and has approved for Stage II opening. We are reopening the lab while strictly following the safety guidance. Stay safe and healthy! 

July 1, 2020 -Congratulations to

Dr. Ava Udvadia and Dr. Shama Mirza on Advancing Research and Creativity (ARC) Award for the work on "Identifying transcriptional complexes active during successful optic nerve regeneration".  Link

March 25, 2020 - To reduce the risks of COVID-19 pandemic and in accordance to the Safer at Home order by Gov. Tony Evers, we are suspending all in-lab projects beginning  Monday, March 25th, 2020. Stay safe and healthy! 

January 16, 2020 -Congratulations

Mohiminul Islam for passing with flying colors for his Preliminary Comprehensive Oral Examination!

August 7, 2019- Congratulations to Mai Xee Yang and Dr. Shama Mirza! Mai Xee Yang, our undergraduate researcher, was awarded as UWM  Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Scholar.  In addition, Dr. Shama Mirza was also awarded as Ronald E. McNair  Post-Baccalaureate Mentor Award for guiding our UWM McNair Scholar, Mai Xee Yang, not only in research project but also in providing valuable insights in graduate school application process for the scholar. 

May 7, 2019 -Rachel Slaby was invited to join UWM's Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, a chapter that is exclusive for only the top 10% of students from on 10% of the nation's college and university. 

April 26, 2019- Vilashini Rajaratnam, our graduate student, was awarded as Teaching Assistant Award for Lab category in Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. Congrats!

April, 2019 - Congratulation to Dr. Shama Mirza and her collaborator on the Research Growth Initiative (RGI) Awards for the work on "A New Therapeutic Strategy for the Treatment of Glioblastoma via ASAH1 inhibition. Congrats! Link

April 5, 2019 - Maixee Yang and Rachel Slaby participated in the 11th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. They presented they work on "Quantification of Acid Ceramidase Inhibitor (ARN) in Rat Plasma Using LC-MS/MS and its Application for Pharmacokinetics Studies". Link

January 25, 2019 - Heather L. Leskinen, our collaborating graduate student, won first the prize for Milwaukee Analytical Chemistry Conference (MACC) Graduate Category poster session. Congrats! Link

January 25, 2019 - Marwat Salamin and Petra Stevanovic, our undergraduate students, won the first prize for Milwaukee Analytical Chemistry Conference (MACC) undergraduate category poster session. Congrats! Link

December 21, 2018 - Tom Luljak of WUWM 89.7 (Milwaukee’s NPR) interviewed Dr. Shama Mirza and Dr. Doug Stafford earlier this month regarding their glioblastoma research. Link

October 30, 2018 - Mohiminul Islam was recently quoted in the UWM Report while attending the recent gubernatorial debate. Link

October 30, 2018 - Dr. Shama Mirza was invited to give a lecture on "Analytical Tool in Translational Science: Bridging the Gap between Basic Science and Patient Care" for the Chemistry & Biochemistry Departmental Colloquium in University of Minnesota-Duluth, MN. 

Summer, 2018 - Marwat Salamin, our undergraduate student, won the first prize for the Best Poster Award for Summer SURF Program 2018. Congrats! Link

April 16, 2018 - Congratulation to Dr. Shama Mirza and her collaborator, Dr. Sandeep Gopalakrishnan, Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, on the Research Growth Initiative (RGI) Awards for the work on " Attenuation of Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Immune Dysregulation by NIR Photobiomodulation in Diabetic Wound Healing". Congrats! Link

April, 2018 - Anahit Campbell, our graduate student, won 3rd  place for UWM Three Minute Thesis (3MT). Her presentation was entitled "Kidney Blockage Detection made Quick, Simple and Cost-effective". Congrats! Link

July, 2017 - Congratulation to Dr. Shama Mirza and her collaborators on winning the Collaborative Research Team Development Award for their work on "Mechanisms of Cell Migration and Differentiation in Development and Disease: From Basic Science to Public Health". Congrats! Link