Dr. Naila Shahid is a highly motivated and experienced researcher with expertise in plant molecular biology, plant transformation, plant tissue culture, and the expression of antigenic proteins in plants for possible vaccine production. She has over 18 years of experience in the field of biological research, including 5 years working in the bio-pharmaceutical unit and the Interferon research group at the University of the Punjab, Pakistan. Her specific research area focuses on the production of plant-based edible vaccines for human and animal infectious diseases. She is deeply passionate about finding innovative solutions to the challenges associated with traditional vaccines, such as their high cost, cold storage requirements, and the need for trained personnel for administration. Her long-term goal is to excel in biological research and develop low-cost edible vaccines that are easy to distribute and administer to those in need.
She has also made significant contributions to the University of Pennsylvania’s edible vaccine production group, serving as a researcher from 2015 to 2016 and as a postdoctoral fellow from 2021 to 2022 in Dr. Henry Daniell’s lab. Dr. Daniell, the W. D. Miller Professor and Director of Translational Research, Vice Chair of the Department of Basic and Translational Sciences, and Editor-in-Chief of Plant Biotechnology Journal in Oxford, UK, developed a unique experimental chewing gum that could potentially limit coronavirus transmission by reducing the amount of coronavirus particles in saliva. This gum contains a protein that “traps” viral particles when infected individuals talk, breathe, or cough. Dr. Shahid co-authored an article related to this research, where she quantified the ACE2 protein in the chewing gum. This publication garnered global attention, with hundreds of news releases from Reuters, BBC, CNN, NBC, Fox, ABC, Times, WebMD, Yahoo News, Times of India, USA Today, The Gazette, and others. It was featured in Scientific American, National Geographic, TED talks, and generated over 2 million Twitter interactions in multiple global languages.
At the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, Dr. Shahid was involved in the development of an innovative technology called Microbubbling Digital Assay. This technology enables the highly sensitive detection of protein biomarkers at the femtomolar level using microbubbles to label target proteins. The microbubbling readout can be detected with a smartphone camera and analyzed with a smartphone app for automated image analysis. In the BSL2 lab, she conducted tests to evaluate the antiviral activity of plant powder against the recently emerged and rapidly spreading Omicron Variant of COVID-19.

Selected Publications:
1.	Tanveer, S., Malik, H. A., Shahid, N., Salisu, I. B., Ahmed, N., Latif, A., … & Rao, A. Q. (2023). Production of proinflammatory cytokines by expressing Newcastle disease vaccine candidates in corn. Journal of King Saud University-Science, 35(3), 102537
2.	Latif, A., Azam, S., Shahid, N., Javed, M. R., Haider, Z., Yasmeen, A., … & Rao, A. Q. (2022). Overexpression of the AGL42 gene in cotton delayed leaf senescence through downregulation of NAC transcription factors. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 1-14.
3.	Yasmeen, A., Shakoor, S., Azam, S., Bakhsh, A., Shahid, N., Latif, A., … & Rao, A. Q. (2022). CRISPR/Cas-mediated knockdown of vacuolar invertase gene expression lowers the cold-induced sweetening in potatoes. Planta, 256(6), 1-15.
4.	Daniell, H., Nair, S. K., Esmaeili, N., Wakade, G., Shahid, N., Ganesan, P. K., … & Collman, R. G. (2022). Debulking SARS-CoV-2 in saliva using angiotensin converting enzyme 2 in chewing gum to decrease oral virus transmission and infection. Molecular Therapy, 30(5), 1966-1978.
5.	Iqbal, A., Ali, M. A., Ahmed, S., Hassan, S., Shahid, N., Azam, S., … & Shahid, A. A. (2022). Engineered resistance and risk assessment associated with insecticidal and weeds resistant transgenic cotton using wister rat model. Scientific reports, 12(1), 1-8.
6.	Shahid, N., Rao, A. Q., Ahad., A, Gul, A., Latif, A., Azam, S., Shahid, M., Akhter, S., Shahid, A, A., Husnain. T 2020. “E. coli expression and immunological assessment of expressed recombinant Newcastle disease virus haemagglutinin-neuraminidase protein in chicks” Acta Virologica, 64,3, 2020.
7.	Shahid, N., Samiullah, T. R., Shakoor, S., Latif, A., Yasmeen, A., Azam, S., … & Rao, A. Q. (2020). Early-stage development of a Newcastle disease vaccine candidate in corn. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 7, 499.
8.	Zahid, M., Irshad, A., Shakoor, S., Samiullah, T. R., Shahid, N., Iqbal, A., … & Husnain, T. (2020). Engineered Recombinant NDV-Fusion Protein and Its Polyclonal Antibodies Production. Pakistan Veterinary Journal. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2020.034
9.	Shakoor, S., Rao, A. Q., Shahid, N., Yaqoob, A., Samiullah, T. R., Latif, A., … & Husnain, T. (2019). Role of oral vaccines as an edible tool to prevent infectious diseases. Acta Virologica, 63(3), 245-252.
10.	Shahid, N., and Daniell, H. (2016). Plant based oral vaccines against zoonotic and non‐zoonotic diseases. Plant Biotechnology Journal.