Dr. Ansab Akhtar 

Dr. Ansab has completed a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from UIPS, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. His research is focused on preclinical studies in neuroscience. He has explored brain insulin resistance, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, neuroinflammation, etc., pathways involved in brain diseases. His Ph.D. thesis is entitled "targeting brain insulin resistance in an intracerebroventricular-streptozotocin induced rat model of Alzheimer’s disease” under the supervision of Dr. Sangeeta Pilkhwal Sah, assistant professor in Pharmacology, Panjab University. He has worked on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, PTSD, diabetic cognitive dysfunction, and diabetic neuropathy, etc. He has authored and co-authored a few research and review publications in peer-reviewed international journals.

His master's project was on 'cloning, expression, and purification of recombinant protein utilizing bacterial expression system' under the supervision of Dr. Sudhir Sahdev, group leader at Daiichi Sankyo, Gurgaon, and Dr. VGM Naidu, assistant professor, NIPER Hyderabad. Dr. Ansab possesses expertise in handling and care of experimental animals (rat and mouse), behavioral studies, biochemical estimations, molecular techniques (qRT-PCR, Western blot, ELISA), histopathological technique, and surgical procedures (ICV administration by stereotaxic surgery, dissection of animal tissues, etc.). He has command and skills in scientific writing with several research and review publications in Scopus and SCI-indexed, peer-reviewed international journals Currently, he is working as an Assistant Professor at University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Dehradun in the subjects of Pharmacology and Clinical research.

Prior to joining UPES, Dr. Ansab was working as an Assistant Professor at Chandigarh College of Pharmacy, Chandigarh Group of Colleges, Landran, Mohali, Punjab. 

Dr. Ansab carries expertise in the areas of Pharmacology, Toxicology, Molecular biology, Cognitive neuroscience, Neurodegenerative diseases, and Preclinical and Clinical research. 

Dr. Ansab has the concept and understanding to develop course materials of the specialized subject areas, implement new policies, procedures etc. for improving academic rigour. He has the capability to coach students in developing special skills, preparing them for job interviews, help student’s placements, counsel students on their academic as well as non-academic problems. 

Dr. Ansab has teaching experience in Pharmacology, Human Anatomy & Physiology, and Clinical research (theory and practical) to B. Pharmacy, M. Pharmacy, B.Sc., and M.Sc. (Clinical research) students. 

Dr. Ansab has been awarded a UGC-MANF fellowship to conduct PhD research work, FENS Grant to attend FENS 2020 Virtual Forum, IBRO Travel Grant for Neuroscience 2021, Chicago, USA (13th-16th November), organized by SfN. He has qualified GPAT-2013 with all India rank 620 and NIPER-JEE-2013 with all India rank 156. 

Dr. Ansab has participated and presented in several national and international workshops and conferences. Dr. Ansab has published more than 25 research and review articles including book chapter in Scopus/SCI-indexed journal. Some outstanding publications are as follows:

• Ansab Akhtar, Jatinder Dhaliwal, Priyanka Saroj, Ankit Uniyal, Mahendra Bishnoi, Sangeeta Pilkhwal Sah. (2020). Chromium picolinate attenuates cognitive deficit in ICV-STZ rat paradigm of sporadic Alzheimer’s-like dementia via targeting neuroinflammatory and IRS-1/PI3K/AKT/GSK-3? pathway. Inflammopharmacology (I.F=5.093), volume 28, issue 2, 385-400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10787-019-00681-7.
• Ansab Akhtar, Mahendra Bishnoi, Sangeeta Pilkhwal Sah. (2020). Sodium orthovanadate improves learning and memory in intracerebroventricular-streptozotocin rat model of Alzheimer’s disease through modulation of brain insulin resistance induced tau pathology. Brain Research Bulletin (I.F=4.077), volume 164C, 83-97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresbull.2020.08.001.
• Ansab Akhtar, Jatinder Dhaliwal, Sangeeta Pilkhwal Sah. (2021). 7,8-Dihydroxyflavone improves cognitive functions in ICV-STZ rat model of sporadic Alzheimer’s disease by reversing oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and insulin resistance. Psychopharmacology (I.F=4.53), 238:1991-2009. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-021-05826-7.
• Ansab Akhtar, Sangeeta Pilkhwal Sah (2020), Insulin signaling pathway and related molecules: Role in neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s disease. Neurochemistry International (I.F=4.297), volume 135, 104707. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuint.2020.104707.
• Ansab Akhtar, Sangeeta Pilkhwal Sah (2021), Advances in the pharmacotherapeutic management of post-traumatic stress disorder. Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy (I.F=3.889), volume 22:14, 1919-1930. https://doi.org/10.1080/14656566.2021.1935871.
• Ansab Akhtar, Shraddha M Gupta, Shubham Dwivedi, Devendra Kumar, Mohd. Farooq Shaikh, Arvind Negi (2022) Preclinical Models for Alzheimer's disease: Past, Present, and Future Approaches. ACS Omega (I.F=4.132)-7, 51, 47504-47517. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c05609.

ansab.akhtar@ddn.upes.ac.in