Dr. Sajjad Karim

Home >> Research Staff >> Sajjad Karim - Ph.D
Dr. Sajjad Karim

Associate Professor
Coordinator of Bioinformatics Service Unit
Bioinformatics and Cancer Research Groups


I am working as Associate Professor at Center of Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research, Faculty of Applied medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah since 2008. My current research interest lies in bioinformatics and cancer genomics and as a head of Bioinformatics Unit, I am responsible for establishing bioinformatics unit, developing database and analyzing high-throughput microarray and next-generation sequencing (NGS) data. I am actively involved in establishing expression profile of solid cancers (breast, colorectal, kidney and thyroid) using high throughput microarray/NGS (Affymetrix/Agilent/SOLiD) platform and specific tool for data analysis (Partek/GeneSpring/GoldenHelix/IPA) followed by validation (RT-PCR/IHC/TMA). We have developed "BioSearch" a LIMS for CEGMR and it is actively used by associated clinician, researchers and technicians. My multidisciplinary approach has put me in position to oversee the genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic profiling of cancer and other genetic disease and elucidating the molecular mechanism behind these complex diseases and finding some disease relevant biomarkers to be targeted for therapies in future. Additionally, I am principal investigator for three research projects and co-investigator in four projects and published 30+ research article in reputed peer reviewed ISI journals.

Funded projects as Principal Investigator:
1. Establishment of high-throughput RT PCR and Tissue Microarray facility for discovery and validation of potential biomarkers: A combined genomic and proteomic approach focusing on breast cancer patients of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. (1,996,000 SAR; 10-BIO-1073-03)
2. Molecular genetics profiling of kidney cancer by high density array technology. (1,979,000 SAR; 10-BIO-1258-03)
3. Develop a software/web application for efficient analysis of disease-associated genetic information (400,000 SAR; HiCi-1434-117-2)

Co-Investigator:
4. Development of integrative bioinformatics method for analysis of high-throughput genomic and proteomic profiling: focusing on colorectal cancer of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. (2,240,000 SAR; ARP-30-262)
5. Application of advanced high-density array technology and mutational analysis to detect copy number variations, gene aberrations, and single nucleotide polymorphisms in a representative series of thyroid carcinomas from western Saudi Arabia. (1,995,000 SAR; 09-BIO707-03)
6. Establishment and Development of Microarray based comparative genomic hybridization (Array CGH) technique for the clinical Diagnosis of developmental delay and congenital malformations (1,674,000 SAR ; 09-BIO695-03)
7. Mutational analysis of RAS, PIK3CA and PTEN, and FISH analysis in thyroid cancer arising in western Saudi Arabia (1,959,000 SAR; 09-BIO820-03)

Selected Publications:
1. Molecular interaction of a kinase inhibitor midostaurin with anticancer drug targets, S100A8 and EGFR: transcriptional profiling and molecular docking study for kidney cancer therapeutics.
Mirza Z, Schulten HJ, Farsi HM, Al-Maghrabi JA, Gari M, Chaudhary AGA, Abuzenadah AM, Al-Qahtani MH, Karim S*.
Accepted in PLOS ONE 2015 Jan (IF 3.73)

2. Transcriptomics profiling study of breast cancer from kingdom of Saudi Arabia revealed altered expression of adiponectin and fatty acid binding protein 4: Is lipid metabolism associated with breast cancer?
Merdad A, Karim S#,*, Schulten H, Jaypal M, Dallol A, Buhmeida A, Al-Thubaity F, Gari MA, Chaudhary AGA, Abuzenadah A, Al-Qahtani MH
BMC Genomics, 2015 Jan, 16 (suppl 1): S11 (IF= 4.04).

3. Gene Expression Analysis Approach to Establish Possible Links between Parkinson’s Disease, Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases. CNS & Neurological Disorders-Drug Targets
Karim S, Mirza Z, Kamal MA, Abuzenahad AM, Alqahtani MH
2014 Nov, 13(8): 1334-1345 (IF= 2.70)

4. Expression of Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs) in Primary Human Breast Cancer: MMP-9 as a Potential Biomarker for Cancer Invasion and Metastasis.
Merdad A, Karim S#,*, Schulten H, Dallol A, Buhmeida A, Al-Thubaity F, Gari MA, Chaudhary AGA, Abuzenadah A, Al-Qahtani MH
Anticancer Research 2014 Mar, 34(3): 1355-1366. (IF= 1.87) 

Last Update
10/2/2016 1:06:48 PM