People

Dr Ayesha Rahman

Associate Professor

School/Department: Healthcare, School of

Email: ayesha.rahman@leicester.ac.uk

Profile

After completing her undergraduate degree in Pharmacy, Ayesha studied for a Masters in Applied Biomolecular Technology at the University of Nottingham which was followed by a PhD at the University of Birmingham investigating the molecular pathways in microbial systems which produce medicinally important products such as antibiotics.  Having completed her doctoral thesis, Ayesha worked as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham investigating the transcriptional and metabolite response of pathogenic E.coli to acid stress as encountered in the GI tract. Ayesha is registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council and has worked as a community pharmacist both at independent pharmacies and at Lloyds Pharmacy Group. Dr Ayesha S Rahman has worked as a senior lecturer in the School of Pharmacy at the Faculty of Science and Engineering, UoW for 10 years. Currently, she is working as an Associate Professor in Pharmaceutical Science in the School of Healthcare at the University of Leicester.

Research

 

My research aims to adopt a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to studying antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by exploring three complementary strategies.

 

  • Pharmaceutical Microbiology: characterization and evaluation of functional excipients to enhance the efficacy of existing antibiotics against pathogens.
  • Antimicrobial drug development: design and development of novel antimicrobial agents to combat antimicrobial resistance with emphasis on targeting virulence factors, biofilms and efflux pathways.
  • Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacogenomics: evaluation of clinical evidence to determine the effectiveness of antibiotics and vaccines by undertaking observational studies, systematic reviews and metanalyses. Evaluating the genomic response to commonly prescribed antibiotics and pharmaceutical excipients.

Publications

  • Sawant, Sheeba, Timothy C. Baldwin, Oliwia Metryka, and Ayesha Rahman. 2023. Evaluation of the Effect of Plectranthus amboinicus L. Leaf Extracts on the Bacterial Antioxidant System and Cell Membrane Integrity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01 and Staphylococcus aureus NCTC8325 Pathogens 12, no. 6: 853. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12060853
  • Sawant, S., Baldwin, T.C., Khan, H, Rahman, A (2023). Evaluation of the Effect of Leaf Development in Plectranthus amboinicus L. on Antimicrobial Activity and Virulence Factors of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 and Staphylococcus aureus NCTC8325. Curr Microbiol 80, 24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-022-03126-7
  • Idrees, M., Sawant, S., Karodia, N., Rahman, A (2021). Staphylococcus aureus biofilm: Morphology, genetics, pathogenesis and treatment strategies. IJERP 18 (14), 7602.  https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147602
  • Warraich, AA., Mohammed, AUR., Gibson, H., Hussain, M., Rahman, AS (2021). Acidic amino acids as counterions of ciprofloxacin: Effect on growth and pigment production in Staphylococcus aureus NCTC 8325 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. PLoS ONE 16(4): e0250705. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250705.
  • Russell, C., Hussain, M., Huen, D., Rahman, A. S., & Mohammed, A. R. (2021). Profiling gene expression dynamics underpinning conventional testing approaches to better inform pre-clinical evaluation of an age-appropriate spironolactone formulation. Pharmaceutical Development and Technology, 26(1), 101-109. doi:10.1080/10837450.2020.1839496
  • Warraich, A. A., Mohammed, A. R., Perrie, Y., Hussain, M., Gibson, H., & Rahman, A. (2020). Evaluation of anti- biofilm activity of acidic amino acids and synergy with ciprofloxacin on Staphylococcus aureus biofilms. Scientific Reports, 10(1).
  • Idrees, M., Mohammad, A. R., Karodia, N., & Rahman, A. (2020). Multimodal role of amino acids in microbial control and drug development. Antibiotics, 9(6), 330.
  • Morrissey, H., John, A. M., Rahman, A., & Ball, P. (2019). Evaluation of tuberculosis disease awareness and understanding amongst pharmacy students at the University of Wolverhampton. European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 6(5), 77-87. Retrieved from https://www.ejbps.com/ejbps/abstract_id/5695
  • Gill, A. S., Morrissey, H., & Rahman, A. (2018). A systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating antibiotic prophylaxis in dental implants and extraction procedures. Medicina (Lithuania), 54(6). doi:10.3390/MEDICINA54060095
  • Patel, B., Morrissey, H., & Rahman, A. (2018). Prophylactic antibiotic use in orthopaedic surgery - is it worth it?. European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical sciences, 5(7), 131-151. Retrieved from http://www.ejbps.com/ejbps/abstract_id/4695
  • Iyire, A., Russell, C., Dennison, T., Rajoli, R., Saleem, I., Rahman, A., & Mohammed, A. (2018). Development, Optimisation, Validation and Inter-Laboratory Verification of a Reversed Phase HPLC Method for Quantification of Human Recombinant Insulin. JOURNAL OF ADVANCES IN BIOTECHNOLOGY, 7(1), 984-998. doi:10.24297/jbt.v7i1.7192
  • Trevino, V., Cassese, A., Nagy, Z., Zhuang, X., Herbert, J., Antzack, P., . . . Falciani, F. (2016). A Network Biology Approach Identifies Molecular Cross-Talk between Normal Prostate Epithelial and Prostate Carcinoma Cells. PLoS Computational Biology, 12(4). doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004884.

Supervision

CURRENT PhD SUPERVISION

  • Evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of Trachyspermum ammi leaf extracts on planktonic forms and biofilms of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Principal Supervisor).

     

  • Development of novel antimicrobial combinations and evaluation of the effect of amino acids on Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms and pigment production (Principal Supervisor).

     

  • Evaluation of retrospective and prospective clinical data to determine the clinical effectiveness of vaccines and role in AMR (Principal Supervisor).

     

    PhD PROJECTS (completed)

     

  • Synthesis and characterization of antimicrobial compounds against S.aureus biofilms (Principal Supervisor).
  • Characterisation of functional excipients and development of chlorhexidine lozenges to treat oral infections (Principal Supervisor).

  • Role of amino acids on biofilm disruption in S. aureus and antibiotic-amino acid transport across the intestinal wall (External Supervisor).

  • Paediatric drug development: - reformulation, invitro, genomic and in vivo evaluation (Co-supervisor).

  • Investigation of transcriptomic changes in the small intestine during drug absorption. (Co-supervisor)
  • Solid dispersions: formulation, characterization, permeability and genomic evaluation. (Co-supervisor)

Teaching

Roles and responsibilities include

  • Science lead for the design and delivery of the new MPharm curriculum
  • Admissions lead
  • Quality lead for staff-student committee

Activities

  • Academic Editor, Guest Editor & Reviewer: PLOS ONE (academic editor), MDPI group of journals, BMC pharmacology and Colloids and Surface B as a reviewer and for the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health as guest editor.
  • Grant Reviewer: BBRRC peer review, European Society of Clinical Microbiology, and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID)
  • External PhD Examiner: De Montfort University
  • Postgraduate (MSc) External Examiner (2023-2025): Coventry University
 

Qualifications

MPharm., MSc., PhD., FHEA
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