Bio

Saniya Alwani is pursuing her MSc in drug design and development. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy with special distinctions in core subject areas from the University of Karachi, Pakistan. She also received certification in clinical research and interned at Organon BioSciences. Saniya joined Dr. Ildiko Badea’s nanoscience research group in 2013. She received an internal graduate scholarship and more recently a teaching graduate fellowship.

Research

Saniya is currently developing amino acid-functionalized nanodiamonds as carrier for therapeutic gene delivery. Her research focuses on the use of carbon nonmaterial to synthesize safe and effective delivery vectors. This year, Saniya has won two presentation awards including the Antione A. Noujaim award for best poster presentation at the 2014 Canadian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences Conference and an award for best oral presentation at the 4th Western Canadian Medicinal Chemistry Workshop. 

After her MSc, Saniya wishes to pursue a PhD in biomedical nanoscience. She is particularly interested in discovering novel therapeutic approaches through gene therapy.  

Conference Abstracts

  • Saniya Alwani, Jackson M. Chitanda, Deborah Michel, Ronald E. Verrall, and Ildiko Badea (2014). Amino acid functionalized nanodiamonds as gene delivery vectors. Canadian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences conference, June 10-13 2014, Montreal, Qc. Antoine A. Noujaim Award of Excellence for best poster
  • Saniya Alwani, Jackson M. Chitanda, Deborah Michel, Ronald E. Verrall, and Ildiko Badea (2014). Lysine and lysyl-histidine functionalized nanodiamonds as gene delivery vectors. 4th Western Canadian Medicinal Chemistry Workshop, September 26-28, 2014, Saskatoon, Sask. Award for best trainee oral presentation