Alumni Profile: Nida Bilal, MSc'21

March 29, 2022


Image: Nida Bilal, MSc'21

I previously had a background in computer science, primarily in data analytics. Due to my sister being affected by cancer, I started studying bioinformatics profiling of cancer genomics datasets. This finally led to a career transition into pharmaceutical sciences in which my research focus has been on RNA combination drug screens for anti-cancer therapeutic discovery. After graduation I founded a start-up, OncoCentric Therapeutics, to further this research and my team’s vision of developing better anti-cancer therapeutics that improve survival in cancer patients.

Who or what has been the biggest influence in your education and career?

It was my younger sister Biba's illness. Biba had breast cancer which metastasized to the brain. In trying to find her a treatment, I realized there weren't any options that could improve her prognosis and no clinical trial would take her. She passed away within 7 months of diagnosis. By this time, I had admission to UBC for graduate studies. A month after her passing, I started my graduate program in Pharmaceutical Sciences seeking to discover a therapeutic candidate to address this unmet need of improving survival outcomes in other cancer patients like her.

What are some interesting initiatives you are working on currently?

From our loss of Biba and many others stems our vision to be a provider of first-choice cancer treatment to achieve quality of life with a substantial chance of complete recovery in cancer patients like her - to give them a new lease on life. 
 
OncoCentric’s R&D team employs a multi-disciplinary approach of using bioinformatics to discover cancer-specific RNA gene targets from cancer sample datasets that then direct our in-vitro drug screen studies for testing the effect of these targets in varying combinations and characterizing their mechanism-of-action in cells of different cancer types. 

What accomplishments are you most proud of to date and what would you like to accomplish in the near future?

The RNA combination therapeutic I’ve discovered through my graduate research, BIBA001, selectively targets cancer cells by activating the p53 pathway, which is mutated in almost 60% of cancers, and therefore, has therapeutic potential not just for brain but other hard-to-treat cancers as well. 
 
I would like to continue this effort through our newly founded company to discover and develop more promising anti-cancer treatments. Our goal for the next 10 years is to get our lead therapeutics to clinic for at least three indications, one of which should be a hard-to-treat cancer.

What UBC moment are you still talking about?

The entire journey of learning in this program has been a wonderful experience, but it was particularly rewarding to observe great results on cancer-targeting delivery and cell death for the discovered RNA combination. I appreciate the support of my peers and faculty. 

Any additional information you would like to share?

To learn more about our projects, or to collaborate, reach me at nidaabilals@gmail.com or visit our NFP website bibacrf.org.

Contacts


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