University of the Punjab.

Dr. Nousheen Zaidi is a molecular biologist and Professor at the University of the Punjab, Lahore. In recognition of her contributions to scientific research and international scientific collaboration, she was recently awarded the prestigious Georg Forster Research Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany.
Dr. Zaidi earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Germany, in 2008, followed by postdoctoral research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, until 2010. She subsequently joined the Drug Discovery Group (Oncology) at Johnson & Johnson, Belgium, where she investigated tumor metabolism and cancer therapeutics.
Since joining the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of the Punjab in 2012, Dr. Zaidi has established a research program focused on cancer metabolism, metabolic vulnerabilities, and innovative therapeutic strategies. Between 2016 and 2022, she served as a visiting scientist at Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, and the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), supported by prestigious fellowships from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
Beyond cancer research, Dr. Zaidi leads one of Pakistan's largest community-based environmental health initiatives. Her team has analyzed more than 2,200 water samples, identifying major contamination hotspots in Lahore, and is now expanding this work to 200 cities across Pakistan to generate evidence to improve water quality and reduce waterborne diseases.  More recently, she established the  Public Health, Environment & Applied Research Lab (PEARL) at the Institute of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics (IMMG), creating a multidisciplinary platform for environmental health research that bridges molecular biology, public health, and environmental sciences.
She also oversees the stunting-focused Roshan Clinic and serves as Director of the Action Research Collective, where she leads interdisciplinary initiatives addressing nutrition, environmental health, and health equity. Through her work, Dr. Zaidi integrates cutting-edge biomedical research with community engagement and public health interventions to address some of Pakistan's most pressing health challenges.