Dr Sadaf Ashraf

About

In July 2022, Sadaf joined the Medway School of Pharmacy as a Lecturer in Biological Sciences with speciality in Immunology, Pain and Rheumatology.

Research interests

Sadaf’s research work combines the areas of neuro-stromal-immunology to better understand the central and peripheral mechanisms of pain associated with age-related and chronic inflammatory conditions through mapping the tissue micro-environment, with an ultimate goal of identifying novel therapeutic targets and biomarkers for patient stratification and precision medicine.

Teaching

Sadaf is actively involved in teaching Pharmacy Students (MPharm) across all years and supervises final year students in their Master thesis (SRP). In her capacity as a personal tutor, she also mentors Pharmacy students across all years. The specific teaching modules are as follows:
Essentials in Human Biology (MSOP1018)
Essentials of Academic Research (MSOP1019)
Research Methods (MSOP1014, MSOP1015, MSOP1016).
Pharmacology (MSOP1002)
Pharmacokinetics (MSOP1002)
Pathophysiology of Pain Disorders (MSOP1003)

Supervision

Current PhD Student: Ms Makurata Zaninka
Prospective Research Students: Self-funded research applicants and those who have access to international research scholarships, please contact Sadaf directly on sa2079@kent.ac.uk
Nuffield and STEM Summer Research Placement Provider: Supervision of A-Level students in undertaking research projects.

Professional

Committees:
University of Greenwich: Faculty of Engineering and Science (FES) Early Career Researcher Network
University of Greenwich: BAME Network Committee
Medway School of Pharmacy: EDI Committee
The Physiological Society Representative

Society Membership:
The Biochemical Society, The Physiological Society, British Pharmacological Society, Bone Research Society (BRS), International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI). Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Ambassador

Funding:
The Physiological Society: Recipient of The Research and Knowledge Exchange Award (2023-2024)

Publications:
Primary Papers

1. Lawrence S, Lin J, Khurshid A, Utami W, Singhania R, Ashraf S, Thorn GJ, Mangangcha IR, Spriggs K, Kim DH, Barrett D and de Moor CH. Cordycepin generally inhibits growth factor signal transduction in a systems pharmacology study. (2024). FEBS Letters. Online ahead of print.

2. Jaswal AP, Kumar B, Roelofs AJ, Singh AK, Iqbal FS, Dingh AK, Riemen AHK, Wang H, Ashraf S, Nanasaheb SV, Agnihotri N, De Bari C, Bandyopadhyay A. BMP signalling: A significant player and therapeutic target for osteoarthritis. (2023) Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. 23:S1063-4584.

3. Gadomski S, Fielding C, Garcia-Garcia A, Kom C, Kapeni C, Ashraf S, Villadiego J, del Toro R, Skepper JN, Sendtner R, Dillon S, Sendtner M, Toledo-Aral JJ, De Bari C, McCaskie AW, Robey PG, Mendez-Ferrer S. A cholinergic neuroskeletal interface promotes bone formation during postnatal growth and exercise. (2022) Cell Stem Cell. 29:1-17.

4. Symons R, Colella F, Collins FL, Rafipay A, Kania K, McClure J, White N, Cunningham I, Ashraf S, Hay E, Mackenzie KS, Howard KA, Riemen AHK, Manzo A, Clark SM, Roelofs AJ, De Bari C. Targeting the IL6-Yap-Snail signalling axis in synovial fibroblasts ameliorates inflammatory arthritis. (2022) Ann Rheum Dis. 81(2): 214–224.

5. O’Leary C, McGahon MK, Ashraf S, McNaughten, Friedel T, Cincola P, Barabas P, Fernandez JA, Stitt AW, McGeown JG, Curtis TM. Involvement of TRPV1 and TRPV4 Channels in Retinal Angiogenesis (2019) Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 60(10):3297-3309.

6. Ashraf S, Bell S, O'Leary C, Canning P, Micu I, Fernandez JA, O'Hare M, Barabas P, McCauley H, Brazil DP, Stitt AW, McGeown JG, Curtis TM. CAMKII as a therapeutic target for growth factor-induced retinal and choroidal neovascularization (2019) JCI Insight. 4(6):e122442.

7. Ashraf S, Radhi M, Gowler P, Burston J, Gandhi RD, Thorn GJ, Piccinini AM, Walsh DA, Chapman V and de Moor CH. The polyadenylation inhibitor cordycepin reduces pain, inflammation and joint pathology in rodent models of osteoarthritis (2019) Sci Rep. 9(1):4696.

8. Ashraf S, Mapp PI, Shahtaheri SM and Walsh DA. Effects of carrageenan induced synovitis on joint damage and pain in a rat model of knee osteoarthritis (2018) Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 26(10):1369-1378.

9. Huang J, Burston J, Li L, Ashraf S, Mapp PI, Bennett AJ, Ravipati S, Pousinis P, Barrett DA, Scammell BE, Chapman V. Targeting the D Series Resolvin Receptor System for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis Pain (2017) Arthritis Rheumatol. 69(5):996-1008.

10. Ashraf S, Bouhana KS, Pheneger J, Andrews SW and Walsh DA. Selective inhibition of tropomyosin-receptor-kinase A (TrkA) reduces pain and joint damage in two rat models of inflammatory arthritis (2016) Arthritis Res Ther. 18(1):97.

11. Ashraf S, Mapp PI, Burston JJ, Bennett AJ, Chapman V, Walsh DA. Augmented pain behavioural responses to intra-articular injection of nerve growth factor in two animal models of osteoarthritis (2014) Ann Rheum Dis. 73(9):1710-8.

12. Sagar DR, Ashraf S, Xu, L, Burston JJ, Menhinick MR, Poulter CL, Bennett AJ, Walsh DA, Chapman V. Osteoprotegerin reduces the development of pain behaviour and joint pathology in a model of osteoarthritis (2014) Ann Rheum Dis. 73(8):1558-65.
13. McGarvey, LP, Butler CA, Stokesberry S, Polley L, McQuaid S, Abdullah H, Ashraf S, McGahon MK, Curtis TM, Arron J, Choy D, Warke TJ, Bradding P, Ennis M, Zholos A, Costello RW, Heaney LG. Increased expression of bronchial epithelial transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 channels in severe asthma (2014) The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 133(3):704-712.

14. Mapp PI, Sagar DR, Ashraf S, Burston JJ, Suri S, Chapman V, Walsh DA. Differences in structural and pain phenotypes in the sodium monoiodoacetate and meniscal transection models of osteoarthritis (2013) Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. 21(9):1336-45.

15. Walsh DA, Verghese P, Cook GJ, McWilliams DA, Mapp PI, Ashraf S, Wilson D. Lymphatic vessels in the osteoarthritic human knees (2012) Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. 20(5):405-12.

16. Ashraf S, Mapp PI, Walsh DA. Contributions of angiogenesis to inflammation, joint damage and pain in a rat model of osteoarthritis (2011) Arthritis Rheumatol. 63(9):2700-10.
17. Ashraf S, Wibberley H, Mapp PI, Hill R, Wilson D, Walsh DA. Increased vascular penetration and nerve growth in the meniscus: a potential source of pain in osteoarthritis (2011) Ann Rheum Dis. 70(3):523-9.

18. Ashraf S, Mapp PI, Walsh DA. Angiogenesis and persistence of inflammation in a rat model of proliferative synovitis (2010) Arthritis Rheumatol. 62(7):1890-8.

19. Zhao M, Mulesan P, Amiel SA, Srinivasan P, Asare-Anane H, Fairbanks L, Persaud S, Jones P, Jones J, Ashraf S, Littlejohn W, Rela M, Heaton N, Huang GC. Human islets derived from donors after cardiac death are fully biofunctional (2007) Am J Transplant. 7(10):2318-25.

Review Papers

1. Mathew S, Ashraf S, Shorter S, Tozzi G, Koutsikou S and Ovsepian SV. Neurobiological Correlates of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis: Remodelling and Plasticity of Nociceptive and Autonomic Innervations in Synovial Joints (2024). The Neuroscientist. Online ahead of print.

2. Radhi M, Ashraf S, Lawrence S, Tranholm AA, Wellham PAD, Hafeez A, Khamis AS, Thomas R, McWilliams D and de Moor CH. A systematic review of the biological effects of cordycepin. (2021) Molecules. 26(19), 5886

3. Ashraf S. Cav2.2 channels: Therapeutic target for chronic arthritic pain? (2015) Arthritis Rheumatol. 67(6):1416-8.

4. Ashraf S. Potential contributions of CaMKII to angiogenesis mediated pathological changes seen in osteoarthritis (2014) Current Angiogenesis. 3(3):123-131.

5. Ashraf S, Walsh DA. Angiogenesis in osteoarthritis (2008) Curr Opin Rheumatol. 20(5):573-80.

Book Chapters

1. Sagar DR, Ashraf S and Chapman V. Animal models of osteoarthritic pain. In: Arendt-Nielsen L, Perrot S, eds. Pain in the joints. Wolters Kluwer; 2016. P. 27-44.