Additional Information

Mohd Saleem Dar received his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, Chemistry and Zoology from Sri Pratap College, Srinagar, and Master’s in Biochemistry from the University of Kashmir, Srinagar. After being awarded a fellowship for his doctoral training by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India, he joined the CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu, and received his PhD in Molecular Biology. Dr. Dar’s PhD focused on the understating of β-catenin terminal regions in the regulation of its transcription and adhesion. He identified a unique deletion mutant of β-catenin, present in HepG2 cells, responsible for its high transcriptional activity in HepG2 cells, and collaborated with various research groups within and outside the institute for the development of novel small molecule inhibitors targeting Wnt/β-catenin and PI3K pathways. Soon after submitting his thesis, Dr. Dar moved to the United States, and pursued a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Biochemistry at Purdue University. Saleem’s postdoctoral research focused on the epigenetic regulation of DNA methyltransferase B (Dnmt3b) using mouse embryonic stem cells (mESC) as a model system. He identified a promoter associated with a divergent long-noncoding RNA, Dnmt3bas, and uncovered a unique mechanism by which it regulates the induction and splicing of Dnmt3b during mESC differentiation. In addition to this, Dr. Dar worked on understanding the epigenetic roles of the Chiffon protein in the development using Drosophila as a model system. In his postdoctoral training, he actively collaborated in other projects within and outside the lab. To advance his career further in the field of epigenetics, Saleem joined the Saloura Lab at the Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch (TGMB) of NCI as a Research Fellow in November 2022. In the Saloura Lab, Dr. Dar studies the role of NSD3 in HPV-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Saleem’s goal is to develop novel treatment options for patients with NSD3-driven HPV-negative HNSCC by understanding the epigenetic and non-epigenetic roles of NSD3 isoforms. This entails the development of degrading approaches to target the NSD3 isoforms using PROTACs.