PROFILE SUMMARY

Dr. Saalim completed his PhD in Pharmacognosy (microbial natural products) under Chinese Government Scholarship from Tianjin University, China. He has more than 10 years of research, teaching, and pharmacy practice experience. His work has involved pioneering approaches in microbial natural product discovery, chromatographic methods, and compound derivatization through precursor-directed biosynthesis, resulting in publications in renowned journals like the Journal of Natural Products and Analytical Methods. His expertise spans advanced analytical techniques, including HPLC, LC-MS/MS, and NMR as well as molecular biology methodologies. In addition to research, he has extensive teaching experience, having delivered courses in pharmaceutical and basic medical sciences as a Senior Lecturer while also leading key administrative and laboratory development initiatives. Throughout his career, he has worked on interdisciplinary projects, from designing DNA extraction kits to contributing to anti-viral research, showcasing his ability to translate research into practical. As an active member of professional organizations like the American Chemical Society and the American Society of Pharmacognosy, he is dedicated to advancing pharmaceutical sciences through innovation, collaboration, and impactful teaching.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Assistant Professor	Capital University of Science and Technology (CUST), Islamabad	Since – 2025

MEMBERSHIP OF PROFESSIONAL BODIES
ASP	Member, American Society of Pharmacognosy, USA
ACS	Member, American Chemical Society, USA
PPC	Member, Punjab Pharmacy Council

RESEARCH AREAS / INTERESTS
1.	Natural Product Chemistry
2.	Advanced Analytical and Separation Techniques
3.	Metabolomics and Molecular Networking
4.	Microbial Natural Products

SR.	JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS	YEAR
1	M. Saalim, S. Liu, S. D. Bennett, D. A. Zaleta-Pinet, R. X. Poulin, and B. R. Clark, “Precursor-directed biosynthesis of antialgal fluorinated bacillamide derivatives in bacillus atrophaeus,” Journal of Natural Products, vol. 87, no. 2, pp. 388–395, 2024.	2024
2	M. Saalim, Y. Lu, K. J. Woycechowsky, and B. R. Clark, “A cheap and straightforward method for the selective isolation of histidine-derived natural products using nickel (ii) phosphate,” Analytical Methods, vol. 16, no. 41, pp. 7015–7020, 2024.	2024
3	M. Saalim, B. R. Clark, and P. R. Taylor, “Quantum chemical investigation of electronic transitions of mitorubrin azaphilones,” Journal of Computational Chemistry, vol. 45, no. 32, pp. 2959–2968, 2024.	2024
4	A. Z. Abbasi, D. A. Kiyani, S. M. Hamid, M. Saalim, A. Fahim, and N. Jalal, “Spiking dependence of sars-cov-2 pathogenicity on tmprss2,” Journal of Medical Virology, vol. 93, no. 7, pp. 4205–4218, 2021.	2021
5	M. Saalim, J. Villegas-Moreno, and B. R. Clark, “Bacterial alkyl-4-quinolones: discovery, structural diversity and biological properties,” Molecules, vol. 25, no. 23, p. 5689, 2020.	2020
6	J. Li, W. Sun, M. Saalim, G. Wei, D. A. Zaleta-Pinet, and B. R. Clark, “Isolation of 2-alkyl-4-quinolones with unusual side chains from a chinese pseudomonas aeruginosa isolate,” Journal of Natural Products, vol. 83, no. 7, pp. 2294–2298, 2020.	2020
7	S. Resham, M. Saalim, S. Manzoor, H. Ahmad, T. A. Bangash, A. Latif, and S. Jaleel, “Mechanistic study of interaction between il-22 and hcv core protein in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma among liver transplant recipients,” Microbial Pathogenesis, vol. 142, p. 104071, 2020.	2020
8	M. Saalim, S. Resham, S. Manzoor, H. Ahmad, T. A. Bangash, A. Latif, and S. Jaleel, “Il-22 in hepatocyte’s survival of Pakistani patients with end stage liver disease: an insight into il-22 mediated hepato-regenerative pathway,” Molecular Biology Reports, vol. 46, pp. 1127–1138, 2019.	2019
9	A. Asif, S. Manzoor, F. Tuz-Zahra, M. Saalim, M. Ashraf, J. Ishtiyaq, and M. Khalid, “Zika virus: immune evasion mechanisms, currently available therapeutic regimens, and vaccines,” Viral Immunology, vol. 30, no. 10, pp. 682–690, 2017.	2017
10	A. Khalid, T. Hussain, S. Manzoor, M. Saalim, and S. Khaliq, “Pten: A potential prognostic marker in virus-induced hepatocellular carcinoma,” Tumor Biology, vol. 39, no. 6, p. 1010428317705754, 2017.	2017
11	S. Sabir, S. Manzoor, F. Parvaiz, M. Saalim, and E. Ghani, “Quantitative evaluation of insulin resistance markers in Pakistani patients suffering from HCV-associated type 2 diabetes mellitus,” Acta Virol, vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 197–203, 2017.	2017
12	M. Saalim, S. Resham, S. Manzoor, H. Ahmad, S. Jaleel, J. Ashraf, M. Imran, and S. Naseem, “Il-22: a promising candidate to inhibit viral-induced liver disease progression and hepatocellular carcinoma,” Tumor Biology, vol. 37, pp. 105–114, 2016.	2016
13	M. Imran, S. Manzoor, M. Saalim, S. Resham, J. Ashraf, A. Javed, and A. B. Waqar, “HIV-1 and hijacking of the host immune system: the current scenario,” APMIS, vol. 124, no. 10, pp. 817–831, 2016.	2016
14	S. Manzoor, M. Saalim, M. Imran, S. Resham, and J. Ashraf, “Hepatitis B virus therapy: What’s the future holding for us?” World Journal of Gastroenterology, vol. 21, no. 44, p. 12558, 2015.	2015
15	S. Resham, S. Manzoor, M. Imran, M. Saalim, S. Naseem, and S. Azam, “Interleukin-28b: a prognostic marker in interferon-based therapy of chronic HCV patients of Pakistan with variable treatment response,” APMIS, vol. 123, no. 9, pp. 765–771, 2015.	2015

Sr.	CONFERENCE PUBLICATIONS	Year
1	M. Saalim and B. R. Clark, “Unlocking hidden potential: developing a simple and cost-effective method for isolation of histidine-derived natural products using nickel (ii) phosphate,” American Society of Pharmacognosy – Younger Members Symposium, 2024.	2024
2	M. Saalim and B. R. Clark, “The effect of co-culture on secondary metabolite production in Chinese fungi,” American Chemical Society-Tianjin University Doctoral Forum, 2018.	2018