Biography

Dr. Shehjar joined the Department of Translational Neuroscience as a postdoctoral research associate in July 2025. He completed his bachelors and master’s in biotechnology at Bangalore University, India. His doctoral and early‑career work at the Sher‑i‑Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Kashmir, India, focused on immunoregulatory genetic variants (IL‑1β, CTLA‑4, FoxP3, and PTPN22) in autoimmune Graves’ disease. He then served as a Senior Resident in the Department of Human Genetics at SKIMS with responsibilities in research, diagnostics, and teaching.

As a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toledo, his work centered on stroke and other neurodegenerative diseases. He studied iron‑induced cofilin activation driving microglial activation, neuroinflammation, and neuronal apoptosis and evaluated a lab‑developed small‑molecule cofilin inhibitor that mitigates these effects (Shehjar et al., J. Neurochem., doi:10.1111/jnc.16260). His current research in the Combs Lab focuses on unraveling the toxic mechanisms of tau protein in Alzheimer’s disease and related tauopathies.

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Education

Institution	Field of Study	Degree Earned	Year
Michigan State University	Translational Neuroscience	Postdoctoral Researcher	2025–Present
University of Toledo	Neuroscience	Postdoctoral Researcher	2022–2024
Sher‑i‑Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences	Medical Sciences	PhD	2020-2023
Sher‑i‑Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences	Human Genetics	Senior Residency	2018-2021
Sher‑i‑Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences	Cancer Genetics	Senior Research Fellow	2017-2018
Bangalore University	Biotechnology	M.Sc.	2009–2011
Bangalore University	Biotechnology	B.Sc.	2006–2009

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Research Interests

• Tau proteotoxicity and neuronal dysfunction (axonal transport, synaptic health)
• Effects of heavy metal cadmium on amyloid‑β and tau in Alzheimer’s disease
• Mouse models (e.g., PS19) and related tauopathies

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Technical Expertise

• Cell culture: neuronal (SH‑SY5Y), microglial (HMC3, SIM‑A9), ESCs, hiPSCs
• Molecular biology: DNA/RNA isolation; PCR/RT‑PCR/qPCR; RFLP; ELISA; Western blotting; protein biochemistry
• Imaging: fluorescence microscopy; immunohistochemistry; immunocytochemistry
• In vivo: rodent handling (mice), stereotaxic surgery, stroke models (hemorrhagic and ischemic), traumatic brain injury model, Alzheimer’s models (3xTg, PS19); behavioral assays (Y‑maze, T‑maze, radial arm water maze, rotarod, open‑field)
• Data & workflow tools: Excel, GraphPad Prism, Zotero, R (basic)

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Hobbies

Playing cricket

Watching movies

Writing poetry

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