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

Dr Shaikh-Kader graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Physiology at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2008. In 2011 she graduated with a Master of Science in Medicine, also at Wits University. Her dissertation focused on the symptomatology of HIV-associated sensory neuropathy in an African population whose first language is isiZulu. In 2022, she completed her doctorate in Biomedical Technology at the University of Johannesburg. Her research study looked at the effect of photobiomodulation (PBM) on apoptosis and inflammation in diabetic wounded fibroblast 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. Currently, the primary biochemical mechanisms of PBM in wound healing are not completely understood. Asma’s study provided a better understanding of how PBM may affect wound healing in diabetic fibroblasts with regards to soluble RAGE levels (the decoy receptor for advanced glycation end products), inflammation and apoptosis. Her research has been published in international journals and she has presented at national and international conferences.

Research Focus Areas:

Diabetic wound healing

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