 |
Ali Nawshad, Ph.D. |
NOTE: This profile is part of a series highlighting the 23 researchers who were named UNMC Distinguished Scientists or New Investigators for 2008. Each of these researchers will be profiled in UNMC Today leading up to a March 16 ceremony to recognize their achievements.
- Name: Ali Nawshad, Ph.D.
- Title: Assistant professor in the College of Dentistry
- Joined UNMC: 2005
- Hometown: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Describe your research in 25 words or less (in laymen terms, please).
Cleft palate can arise due to the failure of TGFβ signaling. Our lab is interested in exploring the mechanism of TGFβ signaling that causes palate development.
What led you to pursue this area of research?
Since graduating from dental school, I developed a keen interest in craniofacial deformities. Embryogenesis and developmental biology fascinate me. While most births are normal, small errors can have devastating defect. Learning this encouraged me to look deeper into cleft palate, one of the most common birth defects. It was at Professor Elizabeth Hay’s lab at the Harvard Medical School where I began to investigate the signaling component of palate development.
How do you see your research contributing to science?
I believe that in some cases, knowledge of the basic cell biology led to more effective treatment of facial clefting. In our lab, we are investigating the baffling cellular changes and tissue transitions involved in the development of the palate in response to TGFβ signaling. We believe that our research will contribute to a missing, fundamental element to the base knowledge about the diverse functions of TGFβ, without which the mechanism of normal palate development cannot be understood. Once the complex signaling network that leads to cellular behavior is mapped out, applications such as gene therapy — which has potential for future treatment of cleft palate — can be undertaken. We are simply contributing our two cents to a larger puzzle of birth defects.
Why did you become a scientist?
I never meant to be a scientist. I went to dental school to practice dentistry commercially. While in the final year of dental school in Bangladesh, we had a devastating flood. And all medical and dental students volunteered to help millions of distressed and displaced flood victims from basic illness. I realized that aesthetic dentistry is the least priority to millions and this is when I begin to shift my interest to basic science. For the first time, I was exposed to the enormity and severity of cleft palate in rural Bangladesh. I’ve never practiced dentistry since and continued doing my Ph.D., and postdoctoral fellowship to have a better grasp of the basic science behind cleft palate.
What is your hope for the next generation of scientists?
Next generation scientists will have both the upper hand as well novel challenges to incorporate basic science with newest technology for the therapeutic advancement. Nanotechnology, time-lapse in vivo image technology, bioinformatics, proteomics and system biology will no longer be a part of specialized fields but a norm for all future scientists. I am convinced that next generation scientists will not only be ready to take on these challenges but will also surpass our expectations.
Beyond grant funding, how do you measure success?
To me success is simply being pursuant of knowing the unknown and contributing (in any form such as teaching, encouragement and guidance) to new discovery. Funding is just a byproduct of that scholarly role.
What would you tell a student interested in a research career?
I shall whole-heartedly support anyone interested in research of any kind. Research will remain at the forefront of scientific endeavor. We already have fallen behind significantly from the rest of the world in terms of research in the past few years and any further disturbance such of lack of interest amongst students in research might jeopardize our research standing in the world.
Do you have a hero/role model? If so, what do you admire most about this person?
Professor Elizabeth Hay had been my mentor for four years of my time at the department of cell biology at Harvard Medical School. I was her last postdoc. Despite being a member of National Academy of Science and the first woman president of American Society of Cell Biology and the Society for Developmental Biology, she was a great mentor and an outstanding developmental biologist who always was available to help anyone in any way. She could explain science in manner that not only simplifies complexity of embryogenesis but also generate interest and sustain that by leaving seeds of new ideas in the mind of curious burgeoning young scientists. She would spend hours to create analytical aptitude and the thought process of a good scientist among her lab members. I firmly believe that all the great scientists have similar mindset and UNMC is no different. In 2005, when I came here, I was blessed to get similar mentorship from Drs. Peggy Wheelock, Keith Johnson and Tom Petro. Therefore, I don’t have a role model but several and they all have been integral to my career.
Tell us about your family and hobbies outside of the lab.
My wife, Farhana, has been silently enduring tremendous sacrifice while encouraging and cheering me at the top of her voice in the path of “making a scientist” for a long time. I am wholeheartedly thankful to her for her support and tenacity. My mother, at the age of 75, still enjoys cooking for all of her children. I have four other siblings, including a twin sister, living in different parts of the world. Hiking, traveling, historic architecture, antiques, blues/jazz and Thai food are all I do outside our lab. I am also a dog fan.
List three things few people know about you.
- I am passionate fan of the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots;
- I had a thrilling experience from bungee jumping and tandem sky diving in Queenstown, New Zealand; and
- I am an ardent supporter for the World Heritage Foundation for the preservation of world culture and natural heritage.
Click here to see the UNMC Honors Web site, which features photos of profiles of the medical center’s Distinguished Scientists and New Investigators.