Lab Members
Yuan Pan, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Yuan received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Iowa and her thesis work focused on understanding ion channel trafficking in photoreceptors. As a postdoctoral fellow, her research focused on microenvironmental regulation of optic pathway gliomas. Leveraging genetically engineered mouse models and neuromodulatory approaches, the Pan Laboratory is currently working on understanding neuron-glia and neuron-cancer interactions, with a focus on cancer predisposition syndromes such as neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1).
Sama Alnassiry
Research Assistant
Sama is originally from Baghdad, Iraq, and lived most of her life in Upstate NY. Sama decided to move to Texas to join Dr. Pan’s team after obtaining her B.S. of Biomedical Sciences from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2021, where her research was primarily surrounding the bacteria Streptococcus Mutane K. Outside of the lab, Sama enjoys learning programming languages, spending time with her cat and a crisp NY fall day.
Khalil Ali Ahmad Kasm, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher
Khalil obtained his Ph.D. in pharmacology from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2021. His research focuses on the field of cancer neuroscience and neuropharmacology. He has eight years of research experience in chronic pain, neuronal-glial interaction and oxidative stress, and published several peer-reviewed manuscripts. His career goals are to discover the mechanism of action of novel therapies and disease-related pathogenesis using preclinical and translational research that can substantially benefit the clinical research requirements and improve the patient’s quality of life. In his free time, he enjoys swimming, football, hiking and cooking.
Tasneem Islam
Undergraduate Research Volunteer
Tasneem is a senior biochemistry major studying at the University of Houston. She has done previous research with the UH Pharmacy department in determining COVID-19 therapeutics. Tasneem hopes to attend medical school in the future and specialize in oncology. Her hobbies include involvement with her university’s choral program.
Khushboo Irshad, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Khushboo completed her Ph.D. in Biochemistry at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India, in 2013. Her Ph.D. thesis and postdoctoral research involved the study of signaling pathways implicated in brain tumors and patient-derived primary cultures. Her current interest includes the study of the intricacies between cancer cells and cells of the nervous system. Her long-term academic goal is to learn the advanced modalities that can help to better investigate the molecular mechanisms that pose challenges in the therapy of cancer patients.