Department, Faculty and Program:
• Physiology, Medicine, Ph.D.
Scholarships and Awards:
• CIHR-Frederick Banting & Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship
• Canadian Lung Association/Canadian Thoracic Society Studentship
• Manitoba Health Research Council - Graduate Studentship
• University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship
• Manitoba Institute of Child Health – Graduate Studentship
• CIHR-National Training Program in Allergy & Asthma - Graduate Scholarship
• International Graduate Student Scholarship (2007-08)
• International Graduate Student Entrance Scholarship (2006-2007)
Research Focus:
Asthma afflicts 12% of children and 6% of adults in Canada and has a total annual economic burden exceeding $750 million. The rate and morbidity of asthma has risen steadily in the past 25 years despite significantly higher use of pharmacological therapies; this indicates that much greater insight to the molecular and cellular processes that drive the progressive worsening of asthma in individual patients is needed. Our studies will investigate how a subclass of receptors, known as GPCRs, on airway smooth muscle cells are controlled by discrete membrane structures called caveolae and the proteins that are responsible for their organization.GPCRs are important in asthma, as they regulate muscle contraction and proliferation, key processes underlying acute asthma attacks and the progressive worsening of the disease. We will focus on how interactions of caveolae with a protein complex called the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex control signals generated from a specific GPCR called M3R and how these are integrated to induce smooth muscle cell responses associated with asthma. We plan a broad translational research approach using cell systems and biochemical techniques to underpin physiological studies using transgenic mouse models. Better understanding of how this unique system works, holds good promise for designing new and more effective therapeutic interventions for asthma.
Background:
• Research Scientist (2003-2006): New Drug Discovery Research, Ranbaxy Research Laboratories, Gurgaon, India
• Masters of Pharmacy (2001-2003): Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, India
• Bachelors of Pharmacy (1996-2000): Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, India
Publications:
1. Dastidar SG, Ray A, Shirumalla R, Rajagopal D, Chaudhary S, Nanda K, Sharma P, Seth MK, Balachandran S, Gupta N, Palle V. Pharmacology of a Novel, Orally Active PDE4 Inhibitor. Pharmacology. 2009 Mar 25;83(5):275-286.
2. Hirota JA, Nguyen TTB, Schaafsma D, Sharma P and Tran T. (2008) Airway Smooth Muscle in Asthma: Phenotype Plasticity and Function. Pulm. Pharmacol. Ther. (2009), doi:10.1016/j.pupt.2008.12.04
3. Sharma P, Tran T, Stelmack GL, McNeill K, Gosens R, Mutawe MM, Unruh H, Gerthoffer WT, Halayko AJ. Expression of the dystrophin glycoprotein complex is a marker of human airway smooth muscle maturation. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2008 Jan; 294(1):L57-68.
4. Shirumalla RK, Sharma P, Dastidar SG, Paliwal JK, Kakar S, Varshney B, Singh Saini G, Sattigeri V, Salman M, Ray A. Pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic characterization of RBx 7796: a novel 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor. Inflamm Res. 2008 Mar; 57(3):135-43.
5. Schaafsma D, McNeill KD, Stelmack GL, Gosens R, Baarsma HA, Dekker BG, Frohwork E, Penninks JM, Sharma P, Ens KM, Nelemans SA, Zaagsma J, Halayko AJ, Meurs H. Insulin increases expression of contractile phenotypic markers in airway smooth muscle. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2007 Jul; 293(1):C429-39.
Submitted referred papers:
6. Halayko AJ, Tran T, Sharma P, Martin S, and Schaafsma D. Targeting Airway Remodeling in the Treatment of Asthma. Expert Review of Respiratory Medicine (Under Revision).
Under Preparation:
7. Sharma P, Ghavami S, Stelmack GL, McNeill K, Unruh H, Halayko AJ. Caveolin-1 interaction with β-dystroglycan is important in Gαq-PLCβ1 mediated calcium release in smooth muscle. (Under Internal Review for EMBO J.)
8. Ghavami S, Mutawe M, Stelmack G, Hauff K, Sharma P, Schaafsma D, Klonisch T, Los M, Halayko AJ. Simvastatin Induced Programmed Cell Death in Human Airway Mesenchymal cells via a Novel p53 Dependent Pathway. (Under Internal Review for Cell Death & Diff.).
9. Ghavami S, Schaafsma D, Mutawe M, Sharma P, Stelmack G, Klonisch T, Los M, Halayko AJ. Simvastatin induced cell death is an out put of the paradox of Autophagy/Apoptosis via ATG5 and BNIP3 (Under Internal Review).
10. Sharma P, Ghavami S, Stelmack GL, McNeill K, Halayko AJ. Role of dystrophin in phenotype maturation of airway smooth muscle. (Under Internal Review).
Presentations:
• International Abstracts: 14
• Invited Talks: 05
Travel Awards: Won12 travel awards from local and international agencies to attend and present at international conferences and meetings