Principal Investigator
Zia A. Khan, PhD
Professor
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Western University
Associate Scientist
Metabolism & Diabetes Research Program
Lawson Health Research Institute
Genetics & Development
Children’s Health Research Institute
Biosketch
I obtained my BSc (1998; Biochemistry and Neuroscience) from Dalhousie University, and a Postbaccalaureate (2001; Clinical Chemistry) and a MSc (2001, Biomedical Sciences) from Northeastern University. I first joined Western as a PhD trainee (2001-2004) in Pathology. My doctoral work, under the supervision of Dr. Subrata Chakrabarti, examined the role of extracellular matrix proteins in diabetic retinopathy, a secondary complication of diabetes that entails unregulated neovascularization. Specifically, my research showed that diabetes leads to altered extracellular matrix composition resulting in increased deposition of specific matrix proteins that permit enhanced vascular endothelial proliferation.
To build on my skill set and expertise in vascular biology, I joined the laboratory of Dr. Joyce Bischoff at Boston Children’s Hospital to study endothelial precursor cells in tumour angiogenesis. Both my doctoral and postdoctoral training was productive, which led to my recruitment back to Western in 2007 as an Assistant Professor. Since then, I have been heading my independent research group to study the role of blood vessel-forming stem cells in chronic diseases. My team of undergraduate and graduate students is studying the signals that regulate vascular regenerative stem cells (cells with the ability to differentiate into endothelial and perivascular cells) and how chronic diseases, such as cancer and diabetes, alter these pathways. We use primary stem cells derived from various human and rodent tissues and study the biology of these cells in culture as well as in animal models of chronic diseases.
Abbreviated CV
See my Abrreviated CV.
