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B.Pharm graduate Joyeeta begins fully-funded PhD at UAMS in the USA

Published : 06 October 2024

Joyeeta Tahseen Khan, a B.Pharm graduate of the Department of Pharmacy at Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), has begun her fully-funded PhD at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in the USA.

She commenced her doctoral studies in August 2024, following the completion of her undergraduate studies at IUB in Spring 2023. This is a significant achievement, as receiving a fully-funded PhD with only an undergraduate degree is uncommon.

UAMS is one of the top-tier medical schools in the USA, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Joyeeta is currently working under Dr. Amit Tiwari on cancer drug discovery, development, resistance, immunotherapy, and radiotherapy, focusing on progressive cancers such as breast, colon, and pancreatic cancers.

Joyeeta said, “My decision to pursue a PhD is driven by my long standing passion for drug discovery and development, which stems from a childhood experience when my mother’s life was endangered due to a lack of effective medication.”

She also said, “This drive was further strengthened by the 2009 paracetamol syrup formulation error in Bangladesh, which tragically led to the deaths of children and underscored the critical importance of pharmaceutical research and safety.”

She completed her B.Pharm with an impressive CGPA of 3.84, focusing on the role of drugs and therapeutics in human pathologies like cancer. She received numerous honors, including placement on the Vice Chancellor’s and Dean’s Merit lists multiple times, along with a substantial tuition fee waiver.

As an undergraduate research assistant at IUB, Joyeeta worked on projects such as the anti-hyperglycemic effects of medicinal plants and neuropharmacology. Her thesis was titled "Optimizing Diabetes Control: A Comparative Analysis of Combination Therapies with Metformin, Glipizide, and Sitagliptin.” It involved both in vitro and in vivo experiments for better diabetes management, under the supervision of Prof. J M A Hannan, PhD, Dean of IUB’s School of Pharmacy and Public Health, and Prawej Ansari, PhD, former Assistant Professor of Pharmacy at IUB.

Joyeeta has published multiple articles in reputable, high-impact journals such as Nutrients, Bioscience Reports, and Applied Sciences. Her presentation at the International Conference on Drug Discovery and Development in 2022 earned her the Best Poster Presenter Award.

After graduation, she worked as a hybrid researcher and Project Coordinator from Bangladesh at the Uddin Lab of Universiti Malaya, Malaysia, under Dr. Jasim Uddin, focusing on 3D-printed microneedles for drug repurposing, all while managing a full-time job at Playpen School Bashundhara as a middle school Chemistry and Biology teacher. Later, she joined the Australian International School (AusIS) as a Senior School Biology teacher, working within the IB curriculum.

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