photo of Masuda standing in front of trees

Masuda Akther, MS

Graduate Fellow

Education

MS Microbiology, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2021
BS Microbiology, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2019

Bio

Masuda Akther is a graduate student at Rutgers University who was born in Bangladesh. She obtained her BS and MS degree in Microbiology from University of Dhaka where she conducted research on developing vaccine against Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus serotype A at the Microbial Genetics and Bioinformatics Lab (MGBL). During the COVID-19 pandemic, she along with her teammate worked together to analyze the mutational spectra of SARS CoV-2 at the genome and protein level, and their findings were published in various high-impact journals.

Masuda began her professional career as a senior research assistant in one of the leading research institutes in Bangladesh, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b). After that, she joined as Lecturer at BRAC University where pursued her passion for academia before coming to Rutgers. Currently, her research focus at Valvezan Lab, The Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM), is on exploring the metabolic vulnerabilities of cancer cells to identify suitable drug targets for combination therapy. In addition to her enthusiasm for cancer research, Masuda also loves to travel and explore new things.

Research Focus

Cancer metabolism and therapeutics

·      Talent pool Scholarship from the Directorate of Secondary & Higher Education based on Graduate examination results, (Awarded on 18th June, 2021)

·      Dean's award from the Dean of Biological Faculty, University of Dhaka, 2018 (awarded on 9th Jan, 2020)

·      National Science and Technology (NST) Fellowship, 2018-19 from the Ministry of Science and Technology (Awarded on 23rd Jan 2020)

·      Scholarship from University of Dhaka for academic excellence in Bachelor of Science, 2016

BRAC University, Bangladesh

  • Lecturer, Microbiology program, Mathematics and Natural Sciences Department

Senior Research Assistant

  • Laboratory Science and Services Division
1.
Islam R, Hoque N, Rahman S, et al. Genome-wide analysis of SARS-CoV-2 virus strains circulating worldwide implicates heterogeneity. Scientific reports. 2020;10(1):14004. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-70812-6.
1.
Rahman M. Comprehensive annotations of the mutational spectra of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein: a fast and accurate pipeline. Transboundary and emerging diseases. 2021;68(3):1625-1638. doi:10.1111/tbed.13834.
1.
Hoque N, Akter S, Mishu I, et al. Microbial co-infections in COVID-19: Associated microbiota and underlying mechanisms of pathogenesis. Microbial pathogenesis. 2021;156:104941. doi:10.1016/j.micpath.2021.104941.