SRINAGAR: Kashmir neuroscientist, Dr Mubarak Hussain Syed, is among the 125 scientists from USA and Canada who were declared prestigious Sloan Research Fellows for 2023. Every one of them receives US $75000 to pursue their research within two years.
Dr Mubarak Hussain Syed is an assistant professor of Biology at The University of New Mexico and runs his own laboratory that has already helped solve certain mysteries of mind works in fruit flies.
The Alfred P Sloan Foundation announced 126 early-career scholars recently. These 126 scientists “represent the most promising scientific researchers working today” and their “achievements and potential place them among the next generation of scientific leaders in the US and Canada,” the Foundation statement reads.
The Fellowships are aimed at seeking to stimulate fundamental research by early-career scientists and scholars of outstanding promise. These are given in “recognition of distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field”.
“The fellowships are presented to researchers whose creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments make them stand out,” a statement issued by the University said, insisting the fellowship is “one of the most competitive and prestigious awards available to early-career researchers”. It added: “They are also often seen as a marker of the quality of an institution’s science faculty and proof of an institution’s success in attracting the most promising junior researchers to its ranks.”
“I am humbled and honoured; it feels good to see your peers recognize your work and trust your capabilities, which also adds many responsibilities.,” Syed told TheNewsCaravan. “Early in my independent scientific career, this recognition will tremendously help our research programme and mentoring activities. I am grateful to my dedicated and hardworking team at the University of New Mexico, especially my first two graduate students, who also happen to be from Kashmir. Thanks to my family, friends, and mentors who have supported me and mentored me to be a better person. Special thanks to the dedicated and hardworking team at JKScientists, who are doing transformative work to train and mentor the next-generation Kashmiri students.”
Asked where the new resources will be utilised, Dr Syed said the funds will be used to investigate fruit fly brain development. “Our research focuses on how neural stem cells generate central complex neurons,” he said. “The central complex is a conserved brain region among insects involved in many complex behaviours, including navigation and sleep. We will also use these funds to get pizzas for the students and trainees we mentor in Neural Diversity Lab.”
In the Neural Diversity Lab of the University of New Mexico, Dr Mubarak Hussain Syed (extreme right) with his scholars. KL Image: Special Arrangement
“This award will help our team decipher the mysteries of fruit fly brain development, which will advance our understanding on unravelling fundamental principles underlying brain development and function across species,” Arash Mafi, University interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, was quoted as having said. “Our research will shed light on the development of the central complex, the brain region used for the celestial navigation of ants, flies, bees, and butterflies.”
Syed heads the University’s Neural Diversity Lab investigates the genetic and molecular mechanisms regulating neural diversity – from stem cells to neural circuits. “The findings will help uncover the fundamental principles of nervous system development and potentially to understand and treat neuro-developmental disorders such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, ADHD, and autism,” the university said. Right now, the laboratory is investigating how neural stem cells specify neuron types essential for olfactory navigation and sleep behaviours.
Fruit flies, it may be recalled here, offer an excellent model system to understand the genetic basis of nervous system development and function. Syed has been working with fruit flies for over a decade and is known as the “Fly Guy.”
Already, the laboratory has identified a novel role of insect growth hormone in regulating neural stem cell temporal gene expression. Now they are testing if this hormonal signalling regulates the formation of diverse neuron types in the fruit fly brain.
While Syed has emerged as perhaps the first Kashmir scientist to get the prestigious fellowship, this is not the first competitive award he has got. In 2021, he was awarded the National Science Foundation CAREER award.
Dr Syed is also the founder of JK Scientists, a registered organisation that helps young scholars to navigate their career paths. Asked what his advice to aspiring scientists would be, he said: “Follow your passion; life is full of failures, but people only highlight success stories. I have failed most of the time and fail every day; persistence and consistency is the key. Value quality over quantity, and there are no shortcuts to achieving quality. I hope that in our region, talent gets recognition and the system starts nurturing early career scientists/scholars someday. Unfortunately, the current hiring system is losing quality researchers and future leaders. Stay motivated and hopeful, be kind and generous, and seek mentorship at your educational institution, JKScientists, or both. Inshallah, many among you will do better than me.”
Dr Samina Raja plans cities, towns, and regions to promote health and food equity. An award-winning professor and founder of a globally recognized Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities laboratory, operating from the University of Buffalo, she and her team conduct research on how to develop equitable, sustainable, and healthy cities. Her research has been used to advise local and national governments within and outside the US, and international organizations like the UN’s FAO. In a freewheeling interview with Masood Hussain, she offers her ideas about Kashmir of her imagination
KASHMIR LIFE (KL): Food security is a major concern in developing countries. What are its manifestations and current global status?
DR SAMINA RAJA (DSR): Food insecurity has varied definitions but is often defined as the chronic lack of access to food. Food insecurity is different from hunger. Hunger is a physical sensation tied to undernourishment while food insecurity is about chronic deprivation of food over time. In 2021, more than 800 million people were affected by hunger, and around 2.3 billion people globally were food insecure. Though food insecurity is a problem globally, it is more prevalent in the developing world. For example, the prevalence of undernourishment is 9.8 per cent globally, while in South Asia it is nearly 16.9 per cent. It is ironic that farmers from developing countries who grow vegetables and fruits for the world often face food deprivation. The persistence of food insecurity across the globe is tied to the lack of food sovereignty or the lack of farmers’ control over the means of food production.
KL: Guide us through your journey from Srinagar to the State University of New York, University at Buffalo.
DSR: I am a trans-disciplinary scholar and a professor at the State University of New York, University at Buffalo. I was trained as a civil engineer as well as an urban planner. I completed an undergraduate degree in civil engineering from Jamia Millia Islamia, a Master’s (in Housing) from the School of Architecture and Planning (New Delhi), and a PhD in urban planning (with a focus on fiscal impacts of land development). My career trajectory blended science, technology, engineering and urban planning. As a civil engineer, I was trained to build but not necessarily trained to think about why we build. Motivated by concerns about the impact of building on human health and health equity, I decided to pursue advanced training so I could use my engineering and urban planning skills in the service of health equity. Health equity is a condition in which all people in a society can lead healthy and full lives, including those with the fewest resources. This interest in equity led me to pursue a PhD in urban planning at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US.
I recall the first class I completed during my PhD programme was about ethics, which, despite being an important aspect for all disciplines, is not widely discussed. The course focused on fundamental questions tied to equity, especially about why, and for whom, one should plan or build. The goals of the course were aligned with my values and satisfied my curiosity. As a PhD student, I was able to connect a values-based education to technical questions. Ultimately, my PhD focused on how urban planners measure the fiscal impacts of land development and the implications of such measurements for the well-being of present and future generations.
Prof Samina Raja heads the Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities laboratory in the University of Buffalo, New York. Photograph by Alexender J Becker
In western urban planning, there is a concept called the ‘highest and best use of land’. Unfortunately, this concept has also been exported to Kashmir and South Asia. There is a heuristic notion that if, for example, farmland is converted into a commercial building, some see the conversion as a measure of development. In the US, cities pursue such development because it is presumed to generate money. This presumption is based on widespread, but outdated, measurement techniques that urban planners use to judge whether land development is “good” or “bad”. In my doctoral research, I measured the accuracy of these techniques using statistical models. I found that the common techniques that planners use to measure the fiscal impacts of development are flawed. In the subsequent body of scholarship for the last 20 years, I have found that misguided land use planning and development can be harmful to public well-being. To translate this simply: if you see a patch of farmland, or say, a paddy field, converted into a mansion and you think it’s a sign of progress, it turns out that it’s not. It’s complicated.
KL: Unlike our universities, PhD in the west is a systemic and systematic investment in an individual. Did your dissertation change anything?
DSR: In the long run, yes. Not immediately though. Translating research into action takes time. My dissertation generated more questions (about existing urban planning procedures) than offered immediate solutions. This, in my judgment, was the key to my long-term research success. One of the key questions that it generated was to push me (and planners) to rethink the utility of the so-called “land use hierarchy,” and it forced me to re-imagine ‘how to plan?’ It set me on a trajectory to develop tools and resources for local governments throughout the United States through a sub-field called food systems planning. Food systems planning questions the traditional way in which urban planning has occurred for decades across the globe. My research lab is the first one in the world that used urban planning to improve food systems (there are other labs now as well). So, I was able to take my learning from my dissertation and develop new – healthier ways – of planning cities. We develop technical assistance models and training for a variety of audiences including researchers, city governments, and international organizations. I have been doing research for more than 20 years but I couldn’t tell you the immediate impact of my dissertation. Cumulatively, my research has generated tools that have helped cities, towns, and other types of communities plan in more equitable, sustainable, and healthy ways.
KL: What has been the contribution of your lab?
DSR: As I noted earlier, our research team is one of the earliest in the world to study and develop urban planning strategies for building equitable, healthy, and sustainable food systems and communities. We are an interdisciplinary team so we use quantitative methods as well as qualitative methods to understand the impact of the built environment on human health (at any given time our collaborators include geographers, physicians, public health experts, urban planners, policy scholars, and computer science experts). With Geographic Information Systems (GIS), surveying, and other technologies, we monitor the impact of urban planning on human health. We have published work that shows disparities in the built environment, as well as the impact of the design and quality of one’s neighbourhood on the incidence of chronic diseases.
Our lab is well known for translating research into policy guidance, training, and action on the ground. To give some examples, in the US, I led the writing of the Planners Guide to Community and Regional Planning for the American Planning Association, the largest professional association of urban planners in the US (2008). Because local governments in the US needed training to enact plans that promote healthy and equitable food systems (only 1 per cent of local governments in the US reported being equipped to engage in food systems planning), in 2012, my team launched the Growing Food Connections, a national initiative that provides guidance to US local governments on food systems planning. This initiative, which received US $3.96 million from the US government, is a game changer because it provides easy access to information to local governments across the United States. Planning to protect food systems and health is a new sub-field even in the US and globally. So, my lab’s contribution has been to change the field of urban planning in the United States.
Similarly, our work has also expanded globally. My team has authored guidance on local government planning for food systems for the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations. Our lab routinely aids local governments across the United States to better understand the impact of plans on food systems and human health (in Kashmir these are called Master Plans).
KL: What have been the major findings of your investigations or academic probes?
DSR: We have a lot of different studies, so it is difficult to summarize 20 years’ worth of work. That said, I will summarize the major findings by saying that urban planning without considering the health and food system is perilous to the health and well-being of current and future generations. Here are some examples: Scientific results show that urban planning patterns (USA) undermine the health and well-being of marginalized people, especially the Black, immigrant, and indigenous peoples (we have many different studies showing this). Poor urban planning has especially harmed human health by encouraging automobile-centric land use patterns (e.g., four-lane highways are privileged over farmland). On aggregate, such land use patterns discourage physical activity (walking) and limit communities’ ability to grow their own food. The US has high rates of chronic disease – much of these can be attributed to such environmental changes.
New models of planning from our studies suggest that planning for healthy, equitable, and sustainable cities will benefit from protecting the food system. We have found that science can learn from the experiences of farmers on how to plan and design communities. So, in one of the UN-supported projects we tracked farmers’ experiences in different parts of the world (Jamaica, Ghana, and India) to understand the impact of urban planning. The findings of the study are straightforward and will not surprise anybody. Today, globally, urban planning decisions are being implemented to undermine food sovereignty and food security. They are especially undermining farmland preservation and farming.
This is also true in Kashmir as land use change is harming smallholder farmers. On the flip side we have noticed that in some places, in fact also in Srinagar, even though urban planning land use decisions are negatively impacting farmers, small-scale farmers are trying to resist bad urban planning decisions. Farmers are, in many ways, at the frontline of protecting the health of their community. For example, nutrition rates and food security rates in the Srinagar district are better than in many parts of South Asia including the Indian subcontinent. One plausible reason is that historically Kashmiris have had egalitarian land ownership patterns, where people make use of their land holdings to grow vegetables for themselves and others. Protecting land and using it to grow food for oneself is a health-enabling practice. So even though negative urban planning decisions are impacting people’s health, farmers are protecting the health of people. I think Kashmiris must understand that you must protect their local food supply chain; you can eat, buy and consume Kashmiri food that is not processed. That means food on your dastarkhaan needs to come from a nearby farm or vaer. Eating haakh (Collard Greens) is better than eating any other packaged food that travels from distant places. So, if the food comes wrapped in packages cut it out of your diet, and if it comes from the soil eat it! I would say that we are learning through our studies that many traditional Kashmiri ideas were far healthier than some of the so-called modern ways.
KL: If you are told to reconstruct Srinagar tomorrow, what will you do?
DSR: My answer will likely surprise some people in Kashmir, especially given how I observe planning to unfold in Kashmir. The first thing I would do is sit down with people to understand their aspirations for Srinagar. The idea that a planner is a genius with grand ideas is bogus. I am sorry to put it just plainly. The idea of an urban planner or a government deciding what is good for a city is an exported model from the West. The best ideas come from the community. In the case of Srinagar, if I could, I would sit with farmers in Srinagar and ask them how they would protect the future of their neighbourhood, and how they would develop the area so that it is protected for them and their community. Then, this process would generate context-sensitive ideas for how to plan for healthy land use (this is a process that my team has used in other parts so the world, for example).
So, planning is not only a scientific-technical exercise. It is an exercise to understand the problem at hand and return power to the people. I can give examples of prescriptions and models that work elsewhere but the first answer is: all planning must begin with inclusive and equitable processes that privilege people with the least amount of power. In Srinagar, these people are farmers. We depend on the farmers, but we are not listening to them.
It must be said that Srinagar has quite a brilliant policy framework (in its master plan). I have reviewed it very closely and I followed the process as well. It recognizes the unique ecology of the city, and its unique heritage, and lays out a framework that is comparable to many plans globally. However, the policy framework and the implementation guidelines are inconsistent. That said, here are some practical steps to consider: protect the land from conversion and development. In Kashmir, we are blessed with fertile lands and water bodies, but we are putting driveways, roads, highways, flyovers, and malls on them (I have seen a hotel construction in a flood channel of all the places). All of this so-called development is bad for human health (and the environment). Globally cities are adding green infrastructure such as bioswales, community gardens, urban farms, edible landscapes, etc., but unfortunately, Srinagar is destroying its existing natural green infrastructure (In city of Montreal, Canada they are literally dismantling flyovers but in Srinagar, we are building them).
Some may say Srinagar needs flyovers for reduced traffic congestion and mobility. I would agree that we need reduced congestion and mobility – but evidence from around the world shows that roads and flyovers (and cars) are not the way to improve mobility (proximity to highways is linked to a higher incidence of asthma, for example). There should be investments in ecologically sensitive and healthy forms of travel, including pedestrian, bicycle, bus, and trolley-based travel infrastructure. If you visit older European cities or even Global South cities, we see the use of electric trolleys–that may be a good substitute here.
Until urban planning looks different in Kashmir, Kashmiris can also take matters into their hand: consider not building cement/concrete driveways within your homes – opt for surfaces that allow water to percolate into the ground; bicycle or walk rather than drive a car (if you can), and, grow and eat your own local food.
KL: We live in an era where we are capable of altering the genes of life forms. Genetically Modified food is one such example. Where do you place yourself on the ethical debate of using GM foods?
DSR: One of the things about scientists and researchers is that they don’t answer questions that are outside of their domain. So, I will politely say that I am not going to answer that question, but I will tell you who can. A brilliant and amazing colleague at SKUAST named Dr Khalid Masood with who I have worked can answer this question. He could probably do genetic modifications in his sleep! You should ask him. I remember when I visited his research lab, there was a poster over the door, which said, and I quote, “Yes we can clone dinosaurs but is it a good idea?” That said, I will redirect your question to ask why aren’t we using our scientific skills to protect those plants and foods that are indigenous and good for us, for example, haakh (collard greens). With a number of colleagues in Kashmir including Athar Parvaiz, Khalid Masoodi, Shakeel Romshoo, and others, we are trying to document the power of haakh for human health as well as environmental health. Briefly, haakh is from the Brassica family. It is nutritious, it is cheap, it is culturally celebrated, and it is available locally. For goodness sake, tell me why do we need genetically modified food when we have this amazing vegetable. I encourage people to follow Dr Khalid Masoodi’s work who will hopefully share his result on haakh in the near future.
Dr Muzaffar A Macha has been a ‘golden boy’ throughout. At AIIMS and abroad and now home as head of IUST’s Watson-Crick Centre for Molecular Medicine, after working extensively on head and neck cancers, he has been able to identify an antidote for managing the excruciating pain during all cancers. In a freewheeling conversation with Masood Hussain, the young scientist talks about his research career and the immediate goals he has set for himself and the centre
KASHMIR LIFE (KL): How was your journey from Kashmir to the USA and then back to Kashmir?
DR MUZAFFAR A MACHA (MAM): I have done my schooling at Madrassa Taleem-ul Islam (MTI), Tral. Then I did my bachelor’s in Biochemistry and Environmental Sciences from SP College Srinagar. After that, I went to the Jamia Hamdard for my master’s, which I completed in 2005. I topped there and also received a gold medal.
Then, I applied to various universities including Jawaharlal Nehru University, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, CCMB Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, and Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics for PhD. I was selected by three Universities, but I choose AIIMS, because of my personal preference and because of the good translational (applications to humans) research work that was being carried out at AIIMS.
There, I joined the laboratory of Dr Ranju Ralhan. Then I was shifted to another mentor, Sham Singh Chauhan who is the head of AIIMS’s biotechnology department.
I completed my PhD in 2010 and was awarded with a Gold medal called Gita Mittal Award for the best PhD student with the best publications. My PhD work was mostly about head and neck cancer.
After that, I went to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for my post-doctorate. There, I joined Dr Surinder Batra, a scientist and a pancreatic cancer specialist. I worked extensively there on cancer biology. Since I had worked on head and neck cancers during my PhD, because of the fact that India has the most cases of this cancer, I started a group to work further on this.
We continued to work for four and a half years till the completion of my Postdoc. After that, I was inducted there as an Assistant Professor in the same department. I continued there until 2019 and moved back home because of certain family reasons and eagerness to serve my own society.
After coming back, I applied for the Ramanujan Fellowship and Ramalingaswamy Fellowship and I was selected for both fellowships. I joined the Central University of Kashmir (CUK) as a Ramanujan Fellow.
A year after working there, I moved to the Watson-Crick Centre for Molecular Medicine of the Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST). Soon joining as a Ramalingaswami fellow, I was selected as an Assistant professor for Molecular Medicine in the Centre. Presently I am heading the centre.
KL: Cancer is among the most life-threatening diseases. Where the science is right now in the understanding of cancer?
MAM: In the last 10 years, the technology that has emerged to identify cancer, to know the cause of cancer and to understand the basic molecular biological concepts proved to be useful and convenient. To a very large extent, we have conquered the battle against cancer. The immunotherapy that is often used these days is yielding good results in treating cancer. Recent studies and clinical trials all over the world proved that immunotherapy is good among all methods for treating cancer.
The Awantipora Molecule
KL: You have worked extensively on Head and Neck Cancer during your PhD. What were the major takeaways from the research?
MAM: As per the studies and statistical data, India has a huge consumption of tobacco products. Head and neck cancer is mostly because of the consumption of tobacco-based products. My research project during my PhD was based on “How cancer is caused by the consumption of Tobacco based products?” I identified cancer development at the molecular and cellular levels. I identified the novel signalling pathways that get activated and lead to cancer.
Along with this, I identified the usage of natural compounds like Curcumin and Guggulsterone to nullify the effects of smokeless tobacco. These compounds can largely reduce the effects of cancer-causing smokeless tobacco.
KL: Has there been any kind of comparative study? I mean is the pattern different for cancers caused by smoking and non-smoking cancer agents?
MAM: It has been studied and is widely accepted all over the world that smokeless tobacco agents mostly cause mouth cancer but smoking usually causes lung cancer. Still, there are cases of people in India and even in Kashmir who have lung cancer even though they had not consumed any smoking or non-smoking product. Thus it is not only the eating habit, which may lead to cancer, although in the majority of cases, it is true but there are genetic causes also. The off-springs of individuals suffering from cancer are more susceptible to cancer because of certain mutations.
KL: Were your findings accepted by the market and what was the response from academia?
MAM: During my PhD days, we ran a clinical trial in the department of biochemistry and the department of head and neck Surgery of AIIMS. Patients with head and neck cancer were given Curcumin and the effects were studied. I found out that curcumin prevents cancer to some extent. It also reduces the size and recurrence /regrowth of cancer.
KL: After completing the successful clinical trials, things usually move to the pharma sector. Is there any such thing based on clinical trials that the market was triggered by your findings?
MAM: In India, clinical trials were done for curcumin and there are even curcumin derivative compounds in the market that are used as cancer-preventive agents. In the advanced and late stages of cancer, these compounds are not effective but they help in preventing the occurrence of cancer at the early stages.
KL: You did your Postdoc in the USA, What was your research about, and what were the major takeaways from that?
MAM: Initially I worked on pancreatic cancer under the mentorship of Dr Surinder Batra. There, I recapitulated the findings of my PhD work, that is how the natural compounds can prevent the development of cancer and decrease cancer-causing active signalling pathways present in head and neck cancer. I attempted to use the same for pancreatic cancer. My other colleague was working on a molecule called Mucin (MUC4). The findings of my PhD proved that Guggulsterone decreases the expression of Mucin/MUC4.
Expression of Muc4 in the cells increases the tendency of having more aggressive and proliferative cancer. My research study was to reduce the proliferation (Metastasis) and aggressiveness of cancer cells using Guggulsterone.
After that, I created a group of dedicated people to study head and neck cancer. I also came to know that MUC4 is expressed in around 90 per cent of cancer patients, and it causes drug resistance against cancer with time. I came to know that MUC4 is an important factor in the development and metastasis of both pancreatic as well as head and neck cancer.
Dr Muzaffar A Macha (WCCMM-IUST)
KL: What was the follow-up of your research? You must be in touch with the labs still because the scientific community remains in touch with each other. Has there been any kind of formal movement to what you did during your Postdoc?
MAM: No one worked on the MUC4 for quite a long time, but when I was inducted as an Assistant Professor, I started to work on one more molecule called NR4A2 (a transcription factor). I concluded that this molecule has a major role in causing intense pain during cancer. I along with other colleagues are working to design an inhibitor against it. We have identified three inhibitors and we are going to publish this very soon. Inhibitors reduce pain across all cancer patients to a very large extent.
Besides, we found that the pain in pancreatic cancer due to the Perineural-invasion (i.e., Cancer cells penetrate into the nerve cells), is also because of the NR4A2 molecule and can be cured with the help of inhibitors.
KL: You are currently working at the Watson-Crick Center for Molecular Medicine of the IUST. What is your individual research focus there?
MAM: In Kashmir particularly, gastrointestinal tract cancers like oesophageal cancer, stomach cancer, and colorectal cancer are more common in people among all the cancers. Kashmir has the third highest number of oesophageal cancer patients all over the world after China and some areas of Iran.
Although there has been a lot of research work on colorectal cancer and oesophageal cancer, but the actual biology and high throughput technology have not been used here in Kashmir until now. We still do not have the cell-line models and animal models which are necessary to study cancer.
My current project under the Ramalingaswami Fellowship is to develop in-vitro models in order to better study oesophageal and gastric cancers. These models can be used to study the underlying biology and molecular biology of cancer.
KL: Since your Centre is newly established, what is the present state and status of its infrastructure?
MAM: The Watson-Crick Centre for Molecular Medicine started in 2018 but the faculty recruitment was done in 2020. I along with my colleagues like Dr Rais and Dr Arsheed joined in 2020. We started from zero. There was very little infrastructure around and within less than two years, we achieved a great feat. It is all with the help from the higher authorities at the IUST. We now are at the stage of working at an extensive pace and for longer durations. Earlier we had the limitation of culture rooms here but now we almost have everything to do full-fledged research.
KL: Do you have the limitation of any major equipment because high-end research essentially needs sophisticated machinery?
MAM: We do not have high-end and high-throughput machinery, but we have basic instruments. We have procured many instruments and machines and we are in the process of procuring many other. We have an allotment of around Rs 6 crore of funding grants of which Rs 1 crore is for procuring instruments. Projects that require high-end instruments are mostly being done in collaboration with other departments or are outsourced.
KL: Many times more than one university work on the same research topic, but every university has a different vision and different priority. Is any other institution in Kashmir working on the same topic as you do?
MAM: As such, there is only one scientist at Sheri Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences working on the in-vitro models, but I do not know what stage has he reached. Importantly it is worth knowing whether you have the expertise for the research or not. During my Postdoc and Assistant professorship, I have personally made many in-vitro models, so I have the expertise to carry forward that work in our Center at the IUST.
