Health Biotechnology is a dynamic field having tremendous potential to answer the human health issues. It deals in interdisciplinary research covering diagnostic, preventive and therapeutic aspects of human disease aiming toimprove the quality of life.The main target of Health Biotechnologyis to improve the fundamental understanding of basic biological processes, studying and exploring the biological phenomena of the human diseases in its full complexity, from the molecular basis to functional genomics and hence facilitating in developing low cost easily available effective therapeutic strategies.

To achieve the aforementioned tasks the major research areas of Health Biotechnology include:

a) Disease screening using high-throughput technologies

b) Exploring molecular basis of diseases

c) Identification of new drug targets

d) Development of nanomaterials and plant-derived compounds as therapeutic agents

e) Pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics

f) Regenerative medicines including stem cells and cell reprogramming research

g) Cell and tissue engineering

h) Development of products commercialization strategies

In Pakistan, the applications of Health Biotechnology have greater prospects. Efforts in the form of financing, policies, technologies and collaborations will help us to comprehend its potentials and immense contributions to the scientific advancements. Moreover, it will also help to establish a multipurpose general Health Biotechnology Lab for biomedical research to facilitatethe basic to modern activities based on curriculum and research oriented technology. We are hopeful that the energy will keep building up, and more innovative strategies will be put in place to enhance utilization of molecular biology and biomedical engineering in defeating the disease moving to the betterment of human health and quality of life.

Focus Areas

Human Molecular Genetics, Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics, Molecular Biology and Virology, Cancer Research, Cell and Tissue Engineering, Molecular Neurobiology and Electrophysiology, Regenerative and Nanomedicines, Natural Products Research, Functional Genomics and Applied Therapeutics