CEMB Centre of Excellence in
Molecular Biology University of the Punjab
Virology Lab team photo at CEMB

Research at CEMB

Virology

The lab studies emerging and endemic viruses — dengue, HIV, chikungunya, Zika, hepatitis and coronaviruses — to advance diagnostics, therapeutic vaccines and antiviral treatment for Pakistan.

Laboratory overview

From biological discovery to practical solutions.

Research spans viral genome characterisation, host-virus interactions and molecular epidemiology, working toward therapeutic vaccines for HPV, dengue and HIV and toward commercialising indigenous detection kits for HCV, HBV, TB, Zika, HPV, dengue and coronavirus.

Viral pathogenesisMolecular epidemiologyVaccines & diagnostics

Research programme

What the lab works on

The programme spans discovery, laboratory validation and the development of tools and formulations for real-world use.

  1. 01

    Viral pathogenesis & evolution

    Studies of viral-host interactions, viral gene and protein function, and viral evolution in disease outcome.

  2. 02

    Molecular epidemiology

    Virus prevalence, genotyping and serotyping to track molecular epidemiology across Pakistani populations.

  3. 03

    Therapeutic vaccine development

    Laying the foundation for therapeutic vaccines against HPV, dengue and HIV.

  4. 04

    Diagnostics & antiviral therapy

    Indigenous detection kits and study of viral and host factors that shape antiviral treatment response.

Achievements

Notable outcomes

  • Robust production of recombinant collagen and elastin proteins in a serum-free 293T cell line using UCOE-containing lentiviral vectors
  • Methylation profile analysis of phosphodiesterase genes in hepatitis C virus-induced diabetic patients
  • Production of onco-viral peptide-based therapeutic vaccine candidates against HPV type 16
  • CRISPR/Cas13-mediated targeting of hepatitis C virus RNA in liver cell lines
  • Production of collagen via a UCOE-containing lentiviral vector for therapeutic and cosmetic use
  • Development of an antigen-based therapeutic vaccine against prevalent dengue virus serotypes
  • Identification of host gene expression in response to hepatitis C virus infection and treatment
  • Study of interferon-induced gene polymorphisms to predict hepatitis C treatment outcome
  • Analysis of competing endogenous RNA networks in HIV infection and treatment response

Research group

Meet the team

Contact the Director, group lead or a co-investigator directly, or reach a doctoral researcher by email.

Doctoral researchers

  • Noureen Zahra
  • Khadeeja Zahid
  • Ayesha Akram
  • Tayyaba Nisar
  • Mahnoor Fatima
  • Momina Afzal
  • Komal Saleem

Connect with CEMB

Need more information?

Contact the right team