Neena Gopinathan Panicker

Ambitious and accomplished Researcher with a robust academic background equipped with over 14 years of hands-on experience in molecular biology and virology, obtained through tenure at prestigious institutions such as the College of Medicine and Health Science, UAE University and the National Institute of Virology. Proficient in a wide array of laboratory techniques spanning from cell culture to advanced molecular analyses. Proficient at designing and executing complex experiments, analyzing data, and interpreting findings to contribute significantly to the understanding of biological mechanisms. My contributions have been recognized through publications in reputable journals and presentations at international conferences, underscoring my expertise and dedication to advancing scientific knowledge.

• Published 14 peer-reviewed papers, including 3 first-authored papers.
• Presented research work in scientific conferences.
• Received a few exceptional awards including: Inspire Fellowship and first rank holder for the Masters degree.
• Wrote and co-wrote many papers and grant proposals.
• Presented at 13 national/international conferences.
• Trained and supervised undergraduate and graduate lab sessions .

• Molecular Biology Skills: Proficient in a wide array of laboratory techniques including Real Time PCR, Western Blotting, Flow Cytometry, Cloning, Transfections, Northern blotting, Gel electrophoresis, DNA/RNA isolation, Immunofluorescence, DOT BLOT Assay, ELISA, Comet Assay, Spectrophotometry, Colorimeter, Chromatography, MTT Assay, Caspase-Glo Assay, Plaque assay, Neutralization assay, In Vivo models and primer designing.
• Research Skills: Extensive research experience in virology, including projects on Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus (MMTV), SARS-CoV-2, Influenza virus, Chikungunya virus, West Nile Virus, and various other viruses of public health concern.
• Scientific Writing Skills: Skilled in scientific writing and grant proposal development, demonstrated by authored and co-authored publications and funding applications.
• Data Analysis Skills: Proficient in data analysis techniques required for research, including RNA seq, documentation, data entry, and analysis.
• Presentation Skills: Experience in presenting research work at national and international conferences, showcasing the ability to effectively communicate scientific findings.
• Mentoring and Supervision: Experienced in training and supervising undergraduate and graduate students in laboratory sessions, highlighting leadership and mentoring abilities.
• Academic Achievements: Received prestigious awards such as the Inspire Fellowship and recognition as the first rank holder for the Master's degree, reflecting academic excellence and leadership qualities.
• Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Adept at collaborating with interdisciplinary teams, demonstrating teamwork and collaboration skills essential for research environments.

• Poster Presentations Award Center for Genomics & Systems Biology VIII Conference, New York University of Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), Abu Dhabi, UAE. Feb. 6-8, 2018
• PhD Fellowship Award United Arab Emirates University , Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, UAE.Aug, 2019.

• Ahmad, W*., Panicker, N.G*., Akhlaq, S., Gull, B., Baby, J., Khader, T.A., Rizvi, T.A.,       Mustafa, F. Global Down-regulation of Gene Expression Induced by Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus (MMTV) in Normal Mammary Epithelial Cells. Viruses 2023, 15, 1110. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/v15051110. *Equal contribution.
• Ahmad, W., Gull, B., Baby, J., Panicker, N.G., Khader, T.A., Akhlaq, S., Rizvi, T.A., Mustafa, F. Differentially regulated miRNAs in COVID-19: A systemic Review. Reviews in Medical Virology, 2023; e2449. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/rmv.2449.
• Damir, H.A., Ahmad, W., Panicker, N.G., Mohamed, L.I., Omer, E.A., Kinne, J. (2023) Investigation of a herpesvirus outbreak in mixed breeds of adult domestic ducks using next generation sequencing. PLoS ONE 18(1): e0280923. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280923.
• Ahmad, W., Panicker, N.G., Khader, T.A., Akhlaq, S., Baby, J., Gull, B., Mustafa, F. MMTV-like Env sequences from human breast cancer patients cannot yet be considered as a separate species. Hamdan Medical Journal 15(3):155. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/hmj.hmj_35_22.
• Al Ahmad M., Olule L.J.A., Meetani M., Sheikh F.A., Al Blooshi R., Panicker, N.G., Mustafa F., Rizvi T.A.  Signal Processing Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19 Patient Nasal Swab Samples.  IEEE J. Selected Topics Signal Processing. 2021. IEEE J. Selected Topics Signal Processing. 2021.  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTSP.2021.3134073 .
• Al Ahmad, M., Mustafa, F., Panicker, N.G., Rizvi, T. A.  Optical detection of SARS-CoV-2 utilizing antigen-antibody binding interactions.  Sensors, 21, 6596. 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/s21196596.
• Panicker N.G., Balhamar S.O.M.S., Akhlaq S., Qureshi M.M., Ahmad W., Rehman N.U., Ali L., Al-Harrasi A., Hussain J., Mustafa, F.  Organic Extracts from Cleome droserifolia Exhibit Effective Caspase-dependent Anticancer Activity. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, 20:74. 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-020-2858-0.

• Balhamar S.O.M.S., Panicker N.G., Akhlaq S., Qureshi M.M., Ahmad W., Rehman N.U., Ali L., Al-Harrasi A., Hussain J., Mustafa, F.  Differential Cytotoxic Potential of Acridocarpus orientalis Leaf and Stem Extracts with the Ability to Induce Multiple Cell Death Pathways.  Molecules, 24(21), 3976. 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24213976.

• Panicker N.G., Balhamar S.O.M.S., Akhlaq S., Qureshi M.M., Rizvi T.S., Al-Harrasi A., Hussain J., Mustafa, F.  Identification and Characterization of the Caspase-mediated Apoptotic Activity of Teucrium mascatense and its Isolated Compound in Human Cancer Cells.  Molecules, 24(5), 977. 2019. DOI: https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/24/5/977.  

• Akhlaq S, Panicker NG, Philip PS, Ali LM, Dudley JP, Rizvi TA, Mustafa F.  A cis-acting Element Downstream of the Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus Major Splice Donor Critical for RNA Elongation and Stability.  J Mol Biol. Sep 1. pii: S0022-2836(18)30735-6. 2018.Impact Factor:4.894

• Kincaid, R., Panicker, N.G., Lozano, M., Sullivan, C., Dudley, J.P., and Mustafa, F.  MMTV does not encode viral microRNAs but alters the levels of cancer-associated host microRNAs.  Virology 513:180-187. 2018. Impact Factor:3.374.

• Ahmad, M. A., Milhem, R. M., Panicker, N.G., Rizvi, T. A., & Mustafa, F. (2016). Electrical characterization of DNA supported on nitrocellulose membranes. Sci. Rep. DOI: 10.1038/ srep29089. 2016. Impact Factor:4.259.

• Ahmad, M. A., Panicker, N.G., Rizvi, T. A., & Mustafa, F. Electrical detection and quantification of single and mixed DNA nucleotides in suspension. Sci. Rep. DOI: 10.1038/ srep34016. 2016. Impact Factor:4.259.

• Desai, N., Finosh, G. T., Panicker, N. G., Ramachandran, R., & Varghese, A. Cytotoxic Effects of Curcumin at Various Concentrations and Role of Curcumin on Lipid Peroxidation and Activities of Antioxidant Enzymes of the Rat Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes. Blood, 118(21), 4933. 2011. Impact Factor:9.898

• Neena G Panicker, Waqar Ahmad, Thanumol Abdul Khader, Tahir Aziz Rizvi, Farah Mustafa. DNMT3L, A Crucial Modulator in Mammary Epithelial Cells During Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus Infection. Presented at the 9th Graduate Students Reseach Conference, UAEU, Al AIn,UAE, April 20,2024.
• Neena G. Panicker, Waqar Ahmad, Thanumol Abdulkhader, Shaima Akhlaq, Tahir Aziz Rizvi, Farah Mustafa. Novel role of DNMT3L as a key epigenetic modulator upon mouse mammary tumor virus infection of mammary epithelial cells. Presented at the 7th National Congress of the Italian Society for Virology, Brescia, Italy, June 25-27,2023.
• Neena G. Panicker, Waqar Ahmad, Shaima Akhlaq, Thanumol Abdulkhader, Bushra Gull, Jasmin Baby, Tahir A. Rizvi, Farah Mustafa. MMTV Impairs Differentiation of Mammary Epithelial Cells through Differential Regulation of Milk Protein Gene Expression. Genomics & Systems Biology Symposium XI, New York University, Abu Dhabi. Feb. 22-24, 2023.
• Neena G. Panicker, Waqar Ahmad, Shaima Akhlaq, Tahir Aziz Rizvi, Farah Mustafa. Characterization of the potential of MMTV to disrupt mammary epithelial cell differentiation and its consequences for host gene expression. 47th Annual Meeting on Retroviruses, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, USA. May 23-28, 2022. Hybrid Conference.
• Waqar Ahmad, Neena G. Panicker, Shaima Akhlaq, Bushra Gull, Jasmin Baby, Thanumol Abdul Khader, Farah Mustafa. Significant Downregulation of Gene Expression Upon the Expression of MMTV in Normal Mammary Epithelial Cells. 23rd Annual Conference of the European Society for Virology, UK. September 15-17, 2021. Virtual Conference.
• Neena G. Panicker, Waqar Ahmad, Shaima Akhlaq, Bushra Gull, Jasmin Baby, Farah Mustafa. Dysregulation of the prolactin-induced pathway of mammary epithelial cell differentiation by mouse mammary tumor virus. 46th Annual Meeting on Retroviruses, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, USA. May 25-28, 2021. Virtual Conference.
• Neena G. Panicker, Shaima Akhlaq, Waqar Ahmad, Bushra Gull, Jasmin Baby, Farah Mustafa. Dysregulation of mammary epithelial cell differentiation by mouse mammary tumor virus. Poster presented at the Health Science Research Day, CMHS, UAEU, Al Ain, UAE. April 18, 2021.
• Neena G. Panicker, Shaima Akhlaq, Bushra Gull, Jasmin Baby, Waqar Ahmad, and Farah Mustafa. Effect of MMTV Expression on Mammary Cell Differentiation. UAEU Annual Research and Innovation Conference. UAEU, Al Ain, UAE. February 4-5, 2020.
• Neena G. Panicker, Jasmin Baby, Bushra Gull, Shaima Akhlaq, Waqar Ahmad, and Farah Mustafa. Investigating the Role of Small RNAs in the Replication and Pathogenesis of Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus (MMTV). Keystone Symposia on “Small Regulatory RNAs”, Daejeon, South Korea. April 14-18, 2019.
• Jasmin Baby*, Bushra Gull*, Neena G. Panicker, Shaima Akhlaq, Waqar Ahmad, and Farah Mustafa. MicroRNAs and their Role in the Replication and Pathogenesis of MMTV. Nuclear and Cytoplasmic Molecular Machines at Work Meeting. New York University of Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), Abu Dhabi, UAE. April 8-10, 2019. *Equal Contribution.
• Bushra Gull, Jasmin Baby, Neena G. Panicker, Shaima Akhlaq, Waqar Ahmad, and Farah Mustafa. Elucidating the role of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV)-induced host miRNAs in virus replication and tumorigenesis. Health Science Research Day, CMHS, UAEU, Al Ain, UAE. March 26, 2019.
• Jasmin Baby, Bushra Gull, Neena G. Panicker, Waqar Ahmad, Shaima Akhlaq, and Farah Mustafa. Investigating targets of the oncogenic miR-17-92 gene cluster dysregulated upon MMTV infection. Health Science Research Day, CMHS, UAEU, Al Ain, UAE. March 26, 2019.
• Jasmin Baby, Bushra Gull, Neena G. Panicker, Shaima Akhlaq, Waqar Ahmad, and Farah Mustafa. Investigation of Host miR-17-92 Gene Cluster Dysregulation upon MMTV Infection. UAEU Annual Research and Innovation Conference. UAEU, Al Ain, UAE. February 5-6, 2019.
• Bushra Gull, Jasmin Baby, Neena G. Panicker, Shaima Akhlaq, Waqar Ahmad, and Farah Mustafa. Effect of MMTV Infection on Host miRNAs and their Target Genes. UAEU Annual Research and Innovation Conference. UAEU, Al Ain, UAE. February 5-6, 2019.