Shaper Mirza

Dr. Shaper Mirza holds a BSc (Honors) degree from the University of Karachi and a PhD from The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Her doctoral research focused on the mechanisms underlying nasal colonization by the Gram-positive pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. Specifically, her work examined the interaction between the human mucosal protein lactoferrin and pneumococcal surface proteins, as well as its effects on colonization by S. pneumoniae. During her PhD, Dr. Mirza received numerous accolades, including a student travel grant for the Gordon Conference on Structure and Functions of Lactoferrin held in Hawaii in 2005, the Gail Castle Award for the best poster presentation as a PhD student, and the Gail Castle Award for the best post-doctoral presentation.

Before joining LUMS in 2015, Dr. Mirza served as an Assistant Professor at The University of Texas – Houston Health Science Center in the Division of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Health, beginning in 2008. During her tenure at the Brownsville regional campus, she initiated groundbreaking research on the relationship between immune impairments associated with type-2 diabetes and their impact on pneumococcal infections. Her studies were the first to demonstrate critical impairments in immune mechanisms in individuals with type-2 diabetes that affect protection against pneumococcal infections.

At LUMS, Dr. Mirza is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering. She specializes in teaching immunology and bacterial pathogenesis, while continuing her research on the connection between immune dysfunction in diabetes and susceptibility to pneumococcal infections. At LUMS, she has established a research lab investigating the impact of hyperglycemia—a hallmark of type-2 diabetes—on the impaired functions of neutrophils and CD4+ T cells. The findings from this research are expected to contribute to the development of targeted vaccines for preventing invasive pneumococcal diseases in high-risk populations. Given the global rise in type-2 diabetes prevalence, her work holds significant public health importance.

A recognized expert in molecular pathogenesis, Dr. Mirza has published extensively in high-impact journals and serves as an editor for two scientific journals.