Dr. Lubna Nadeem

Dr. Lubna Nadeem obtained her Ph.D. in 2011 from York University, Toronto, under the supervision of Dr. Chun Peng. Her research focused on the role of the cytokine Nodal /ALK7 signaling pathway in the human placenta. During her Ph.D., she discovered that Nodal inhibits trophoblast proliferation and exerts a fine control over their level of invasion in the uterus. She also reported abnormally high levels of Nodal and its receptor ALK7 expression in placenta from patients with preeclampsia which may indicate that Nodal contributes to the development of this pregnancy complication.

Following the completion of Ph.D., she joined Dr. Stephen Lye laboratory at Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital, for postdoctoral training. Dr. Nadeem’s research focus remained on Women’s and Infants Health. She is currently exploring the mechanism of labor onset in human. The precise molecular mechanism by which labor-associated genes are induced is poorly understood – contributing to our inability to prevent labor when it occurs preterm Progesterone is critical for the maintenance of pregnancy in all species. The initiation of labour in all mammals, excluding humans, is caused by systemic P4 withdrawal. Lubna investigated one of the most perplexing dilemmas in reproductive biology: how human labour could be initiated despite elevated circulating P4 levels.

Dr. Nadeem has recently made major discoveries that cast new light on these processes and suggest new targets for intervention and with them novel therapeutic possibilities.