CURRICULUM VITAE
Dr. FARHA MASOOD
Department of Biosciences COMSATS Institute of information Technology (CIIT),
Islamabad, Pakistan
Phone # +923325143115; 0514541405
Email: farha.masood@comsat.edu.pk
EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS
PhD
Thesis
Topic
MPhil
Thesis
Topic
Quaid-i-Azam University Microbiology
2012
Grade A; %age = 80.2
Islamabad, Pakistan
Characterization and applications of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate
produced by Bacillus cereus
Quaid-i-Azam University Microbiology
2009
Grade A; %age = 83.3
Islamabad, Pakistan
Production, Optimization and Characterization of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) by
Selected Microbial Strains
MSc
Quaid-i-Azam University
Islamabad, Pakistan
BSc
University of Punjab
Lahore, Pakistan
FSc
FBISE Islamabad,
Pakistan
Matric
FBISE Islamabad,
Pakistan
Zoology (Biological
Sciences)
2006
Grade A; %age =82.4
2003
Grade B; %age =60
Biology, Chemistry,
Physics
2001
Grade A; %age =70
Biology, Chemistry,
Physics
1999
Grade A; %age =72
Zoology, Chemistry,
Botany
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, COMSATS Institute of
Information Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan (Jan 2013 to Present)

Internship under National Internship Program in Ministry of Health Pakistan (20072008)

Lecturer (Biology) Paramount College Wah Cantt (contract post) (2006-2007)
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ACHIEVEMENTS AND HONORS

Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan approved supervisor

Referee to 3 Research Journal

Indigenous PhD Fellowship Program (5000 Fellowships)

International Research Support Initiative Program Scholarship at University of
Waterloo, Canada

Merit scholarship in MPhil

2nd position in MPhil.

First division throughout Academic career with above 70% marks.
RESEARCH INTERESTS

Nanotechnology/Targeted Drug delivery

Applied/Environmental Microbiology

Applications of Biotechnology

Green composite synthesis and its applications
RESEARCH PROJECTS
Sr. No
RESEARCH PROJECTS
Sponsoring Agency
Amount (PKR)
As Principal Investigator (PI)
1.
2.
Synthesis
and
characterization
of IFS (Submitted)
biodegradable
nanocomposites
for
commercial food packaging applications
Designing, characterization and comparative HEC (In progress)
evaluation of biodegradable polymer based
nanoparticle delivery systems for sustained
drug release
Rs. 1 M
Rs. 0.5 M
As Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI)
1.
Making
environmental
friendly PSF (In progress)
biodegradable green plastics and its
commercial use in food packaging industry
Rs. 3.5 M
2
COURSES TAUGHT
Research Techniques, Introduction to Microbiology
RESEARCH SUPERVISOR to theses currently enrolled

Shafi Mohammad (M. Phil) Comparative evaluation of delivery systems based
on polymeric nanoparticles for multi drug resistant infections (2013-2014)

Maryam Zahra (BS) Molecular modeling of PHA synthase enzyme produced by
Bacillus cereus FC11 (2013)
STUDENTS FOR WHOM THE APPLICANT WAS RESEARCH ADVISOR (when
the applicant was a Ph.D. student with Professor Dr. A. Hameed at the Quaid-i-Azam
University) M.Phil. students: 6
NAME
TITLE
YEAR
Sidra Irum
Optimization and characterization of
Polyhydroxyalkanoates produced by Bacillus cereus 2
(S10) isolated from sewage sludge
Biosynthesis and characterization of Polyhydroxyalkanoates
by Brevibacillus laterosporus (BM)
2011
Humera Khalid
Biodegradation of polyhydroxyalkanoate-polypropylene
blends by Bacillus species.
2012
Saddiqa Gul
Studies on utilization of polyhydroxyalkanoatepolypropylene blend as carbon source by a microbial
consortium under different environmental conditions.
Tailoring of monomer composition of
polyhydroxyalkanoates produced by Bacillus cereus FA11
for green composite synthesis
Effect of co-substrates on the production of poly-3hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate produced by
Bacillus cereus FC11
2012
Farah Nawaz
Maria Abdul
Salam
Sadaf Noureen
2011
2013
2013
SCIENTIFIC SKILLS

Microbial isolation, cultivation, maintenance and storage

Metabolite extraction and purification

Spectrophotometric analysis
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
High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)

Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) spectroscopy

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)

Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)

Fluorescent Microscopy

Synthesis of polymeric composites

Biodegradation of natural plastics

Biodegradation of polymeric composite

Polymeric nanoparticles synthesis and its application on cancerous cell line

Cytotoxicity test (MTT assay)

Particle size measurement

Enzyme activity through UV/VIS spectrophotometer

Genomic DNA extraction

Standardization of PCR process

Agarose gel electrophoresis

Gene sequencing
PATENTS:

Masood F, Chen P., Yasin T, Hameed A. Novel drug delivery system for anticancer
drug loading based on poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-15 mol% 3-hydroxyvalerate
(PHBV-15) nanoparticles. (Submitted to Higher Education Commission (HEC)
Pakistan for evaluation)

Masood F, Yasin T, Hameed A. Novel biodegradable polymeric blend based on poly3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate and polypropylene (Submitted to Higher
Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan for evaluation).
PUBLICATIONS:
 Masood, F., Hasan, F., Ahmed S., Hameed, A. Biosynthesis and characterization of
poly (3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) from Bacillus cereus FA11 isolated
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from TNT-contaminated soil. Annals of Microbiology. 2012. 62(4):1377-1384. DOI
10.1007/s13213-011-0386-3 (Impact factor 2012; 1.54)
 Masood, F., Hasan, F., Ahmed, S., Chen, P., Hameed, A. Biosynthesis and
characterization of poly-(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) by Bacillus cereus
S10. Journal of Polymer Environment (2012) 20:865–871. DOI 10.1007/s10924-0120457y (Impact factor 2012; 1.49)
 Masood, F., Chen, P., Tariq, Y., Fatima, N., Hasan, F., Hameed, A. Encapsulation of
ellipticine in poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) nanoparticles and its in
vitro application. Accepted in Material Science & Engineering C. (2013) 33; 1054–
1060. DOI 10.1016/j.msec.2012.11.025 (Impact factor 2012; 2.40).
 Masood, F., Chen, P., Tariq, Y., Hasan, F., Ahmad, B., Hameed, A. Synthesis of poly(3-HB-co-12 mol% 3HV) by Bacillus cereus FB11, its characterization and
application as a drug carrier. (Accepted in Journal of Materials Science: Materials in
Medicine) (2013) 24 (8):1927-1937. DOI 10.1007/s10856-013-4946-x (Impact factor
2012; 2.32).
 Masood, F., Tariq, Y., Hameed, A. Comparative oxo-biodegradation study of poly-3hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate/polypropylene
blend
in
controlled
environments (Int Biodegrad Biodeter; Impact factor 2.01).
MANUSCRIPTS UNDER PEER REVIEW:
 Masood, F., Tariq, Y., Hameed, A. Production and characterization of poly-3hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate by Bacillus cereus FC11 (Under peer review in
Iran Polym J; Impact factor 1.05)
 Masood, F., Tariq, Y., Hameed, A. Down-stream processing of bacterial poly-3hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate (green plastics) and its biodegradability
studies. (Under peer review in J Appl Polym Sci; Impact factor 1.21).
 Masood, F., Chen, P., Tariq, Y., Hameed, A. Screening of poly-(3-hydroxybutyrate-co5 mol% 3-hydroxyvalerate) based nanoparticles as drug carrier for cancer therapy.
(Under peer review in Material Science & Engineering C; Impact factor 2.40).
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 Masood, F., Hameed, A. Process optimization for PHBV (poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co3-hydroxyvalerate) production on small and pilot scale by Bacillus cereus FA11.
(Manuscript under preparation).
 Masood, F., Hameed, A. Batch and Fed-batch production of PHBV-11 (poly-3hydroxybutyrate-co-11
mol%
3-hydroxyvalerate)
by
Bacillus
cereus
FC11.
(Manuscript under preparation).
REVIEW ARTICLE
 Masood,
F.,
Tariq,
Y.,
Hameed,
A.
Applications
of
microbial
polyhydroxyalkanoates. (Under peer review in Material Science & Engineering C;
Impact factor 2.40).
WORKSHOP(S) AND SEMINAR ATTENDED

WIN-Soochow Nanotechnology Workshop on July 19th-27th 2011 (held in
University of Waterloo, Canada)

Seminar on “ Waste Water treatment and its reuse” on May 17th 2012 (held in
Department of Microbiology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad in collaboration
with the George Washington University, Washington DC, USA).

Seminar series “Bio Medical Materials” on March 23th 2013 (held in Pak-China
Business Forum, Pak-China Friendship Center, Islamabad, Pakistan).
POSTER PRESENTATION

Masood F, Hasan F, Fatima N,
Hameed A, Sheinin T, Chen P. Poly-(3-
hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) nanoparticles mediated delivery of the
anticancer drug ellipticine. WIN-Soochow Nanotechnology Workshop on July
19th-27th 2011 (held in University of Waterloo, Canada).

Masood F, Hasan F, Hameed A. Microbial polyhydroxyalkanoates, optimization
and characterization. 1st National Symposium on "New Horizons of
Microbiology" Steps of Microbes on the Ladder of Life. On November 7-8, 2012
(held in Federal Urdu University of Arts Science and Technology, Karachi).
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CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
 Masood F, Yasin T, Hasan F, Hameed A. Study on degradation of green composites
in the environment. 9th International Biennial Conference of Pakistan Society of
Microbiology (held in University of Karachi, Karachi on Jan 28-31, 2013)
TRAINING COURSE

Biosecurity/Food Safety Enhancement Program
ADDITIONAL SKILLS

Computer skill especially in MS Office

Adobe acrobat professional

SPSS

Internet and Web Surfing
LANGUAGES
-
Very good command of English (fluent in written and spoken)
SEQUENCE SUBMISSION IN NCBI GENBANK

Masood, F, Fatima, N., Hasan F., Ahmed, S and Hameed A. 16 S rRNA
sequence of Bacillus cereus FA11. Accession No. JN593008.

Masood, F, Fatima, N., Hasan F., Ahmed, S and Hameed A. 16 S rRNA
sequence of Bacillus cereus FB11. Accession No. JN593009.

Masood, F, Fatima, N., Hasan F., Ahmed, S and Hameed A. 16 S rRNA
sequence of Bacillus cereus FC11. Accession No. JN593010.

Masood, F, and Hameed A. PHA synthase gene of Bacillus cereus FA11.
Accession No. JX142186.

Masood, F and Hameed A. PHA synthase gene of Bacillus cereus FC11.
Accession No. JX142187.
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