# Muhammad Imran Qadir

Muhammad Imran Qadir (Urdu: محمد عمران قادر; born September 3, 1978), also known as M. I. Qadir, is a Pakistani biomedical and pharmaceutical scientist.

## Early life and education

Qadir received his early education in Shujabad, Multan. He received his B.Pharm degree from Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan. Later he attended Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad and received his Ph.D degree in biochemistry and molecular biology.

## Career

He worked in the College of Pharmacy, Government College University (Faisalabad) and then became a researcher and professor (associate) at Bahauddin Zakariya University where he heads the Phage Therapy & Drug Design Laboratory at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology.

## Featured research contribution

* Qadir test: Qadir invented a medical test, known as the Qadir test, for diagnosis of cancer. The approach takes a few hours using standard laboratory equipment for the analysis of plasma lipids (triglycerides, cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol) and a change in the lipid profile is used as marker for diagnosis of cancer. A number of prospective studies were carried out by the researcher by taking fasting blood samples of study subjects from all the major four types of cancers: carcinomas, sarcomas, lymphomas, and leukemias.
* Qadirvirtide and Qadir-C30: His work also includes invention of anti-HIV drugs, Qadirvirtide and Qadir-C30. These are synthetic peptides composed of 36 and 30 amino acids respectively. These block the entry of HIV genome into human CD4 cells by binding to HR1 region of spike protein of HIV, so that the virus can not come close to the human cell membrane and ultimately fusion of the viral envelope with human cell membrane is prevented.
* Qadir theory of cancer etiology: He has posed that viruses are the cause of cancer, the idea was presented as a theory of cancer etiology. He postulated that "Viruses are the causative agents of cancer: 100% of cancer patients contain virus/es in their body which are responsible for the cancer." He also argued that some studies have opposed the idea, but he rejected them because laboratory methods were not used to detect viruses in those studies. The theory was concluded with the point that, in near future, viruses will be isolated from all cancer patients as causative agent of a specific cancer.
* Qadirphages: He discovered local bacteriophages to be used as anti-bacterial products which were named as Qadirphages. The evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria has increased research in the field of therapies to search alternative methods to control the infections. Qadir isolated local phages, characterized them and found their antibacterial activities. The phages showed maximum propagation at 37 °C indicating that these work best at human body temperature. SDS-PAGE analysis confirmed the presence of protein cover and showed the various bands ranging from 10 to 200 kDa. Nucleic acid analysis confirmed the presence of RNA with a size of approximately 20 kb. Transmission electron microscopy indicated that the isolated phages belonged to Siphoviridae, Leviviridae, and Podoviridae families.
* QadirVID-19: He designed a fusion inhibitor for specific treatment of COVID-19, which was named as QadirVID-19. This drug is a synthetic peptide composed of 30 amino acids. It is part of Heptad Repeat 2 (HR2) region of spike protein of 2019-nCoV which was found highly conserved region as it had 100% similarity, with BLAST scoring of 99.5 and E-value of 5e$^{−24}$.
* QadirVax-19: Dr. Qadir has also designed a vaccine for treatment of COVID-19, which was named as QadirVax-19. It has superiority over the other vaccines in use as it has multi-epitops resulting to affect in a wide range of patients. Inventing this formula against COVID-19 has been honored as the best research by the Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC).
* Fungal Research: He also discovered new genes in local fungi which are involved in curing skin diseases caused by these local fungi. He has also established the use of Cassia fistula for fungal infections.
* Publications: He has published more than 600 research articles. He has also written and edited more than 15 books in the field of medical sciences, including Rare and Uncommon Diseases and Bacterial Diseases.
* Mentorship: He is an HEC approved supervisor for PhD research in Pakistan. He has contributed in health-related community awareness programs.
* Editorship: He is working as editor (section editor) for Current Cancer Drug Targets and guest associate editor for nephrology section of Frontiers in Medicine

## Awards and recognition

Qadir was announced the top pharmaceutical scientist of Pakistan by the Pakistan Council for Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology (Pakistan). He was named best young research scholar by Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, and Productive Scientist of Pakistan, by Pakistan Council for Science and Technology. He received the Research Productivity Award, by Pakistan Council for Science and Technology.
In 2019 he was awarded the Prof. Zabta K. Shinwari Gold Medal in Biotechnology for Scientists (under 50) from the Pakistan Academy of Sciences.

## Fellowships and membership

Qadir is a fellow of The Linnean Society of London, a member of the American Society for Microbiology the International Dermoscopy Society (IDSS), Italy, and the French Society for Cell Biology.