Dr Asma Shaikh-Kader

Lecturer
Name: Asma Shaikh-Kader
Location: 2304p, John Orr Building Doornfontein Campus
Human Anatomy and Physiology Staff  Staff Members

Contact Details:
Tel: +27 11 559 6797

Email: akader@uj.ac.za

About Dr Asma Shaikh-Kader

Highest Qualification:

MSc(Med) (WITS)

Biography:

Asma graduated with a BSc at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2007 and thereafter joined the School of Physiology in 2008 to complete a BSc with Honours. In 2011 she graduated with a Master of Science in Medicine at Wits University. Her dissertation focused on the symptomatology of HIV-associated sensory neuropathy in an African population whose first language is isiZulu, and she presented the research at the 4th Pan African Pain Congress in Cape Town. She is currently registered for her doctorate in the Laser Research Centre at the University of Johannesburg. Her research looks at the effect of photobiomodulation (PBM) on inflammation and apoptosis of fibroblasts (induced by advanced glycation end products (AGEs)) in diabetic wounded cell culture models. Photobiomodulation is the use of light (in the form of LASERs or LEDs) to stimulate and affect physiological processes (such as wound healing) in organisms at the molecular and cellular level. Unfortunately, in patients with diabetes mellitus, delayed wound healing occurs due to numerous factors including a prolonged inflammatory phase of skin repair and apoptosis of cells pertinent to the wound healing process. An accumulation of AGEs has been linked to inflammation and apoptosis and thus negatively impacts the wound healing process in diabetes. PBM therapy has been shown to enhance wound healing in diabetic patients. Currently, the primary biochemical mechanisms of PBM in wound healing are not completely understood and further studies are needed to determine the role of PBM on AGEs in the inflammatory response and apoptosis in diabetic cell models. My study aims to give us a better understanding of how PBM may affect wound healing in diabetic cells at the molecular level with regards to AGE levels, inflammation and apoptosis.

Expertise/ Research Interest:

Photobiomodulation in wound healing in diabetic cell culture models.

Research Niche:

Publications:

1. Shaikh-Kader A, Houreld NN, Rajendran NK and Abrahamse H (2019). The link between advanced glycation end products and apoptosis in delayed wound healing. Cell Biochem Funct. 2019;37:432–442. DOI: 10.1002/cbf.3424
2. Shaikh-Kader A, Houreld NN, Rajendran NK and Abrahamse A (2021). Levels of cyclooxygenase 2, interleukin-6 and tumour necrosis factor-α in fibroblast cell culture models after photobiomodulation at 660 nm (Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity). DOI: 10.1155/2021/6667812