Tariq Ahmad

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellow, Gladstone Institutes, University of California San Francisco
• Ph.D., Cellular and Physiological Dynamics, University of Notre Dame
• M.Sc., Medical Biotechnology, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India
• B.Sc. (Honors), Biochemistry, AMU, Aligarh, India

Areas of Expertise

• Neurodegenerative disorders
• Circadian rhythm
• Autophagy
• Sensory system - vision
• Molecular and cellular neuroscience
• Drosophila genetics

Research Interests

Characterization of neurodegenerative disorders and pharmacological agents in the Drosophila disease models. Effect of ethanol and other pharmacological agents on the circadian rhythm using Drosophila model. Genetics of retinal degeneration using Drosophila model.

Publications

• Lee D^, Zheng X^, Shigemori K^, Krasniak C^, Liu JB^, Tang C^, Kavaler J, and Ahmad ST (2019) Expression of mutant CHMP2B linked to neurodegeneration in humans disrupts circadian rhythms in Drosophila. FASEB BioAdvances 1:511-520. ^Undergraduate student
• Kohiyama M^, Bonser D^, Leung L^, Fall A^, Canada N^, Qu B^, Ahmad ST, and Possidente B (2019) The Drosophila apterous56f mutation impairs circadian locomotor activity. Biological Rhythm Research 50(3):375-388. ^Undergraduate student
• Vandal S^, Zheng X^, and Ahmad ST (2018) Drosophila models of frontotemporal dementia associated with defects in endosomal-lysosomal pathway. International Journal of Molecular Sciences Jun 9;19(6). pii: E1714. ^Undergraduate student
• Liao J^, Seggio JA, and Ahmad ST (2016) Mutations in the circadian gene period alter behavioral and biochemical responses to ethanol in Drosophila. Behavioural Brain Research 302:213-19. ^Undergraduate student
• Krasniak C^ and Ahmad ST (2016) Role of CHMP2B-Intron5 in autophagy and Frontotemporal Dementia. Brain Research 1649(Pt B):151-7. ^ Undergraduate student
• Liao J^, Morin LW^, and Ahmad ST (2014) Methods to characterize spontaneous and startle-induced locomotion in a rotenone-induced Parkinson's disease model of Drosophila. Journal of Visualized Experiments 90: e51625. ^Undergraduate student
• Cheruiyot A^, Lee J-A, Gao FB, and Ahmad ST (2014) Expression of mutant CHMP2B, an ESCRT-III component involved in frontotemporal dementia, causes eye deformities due to Notch misregulation in Drosophila. FASEB Journal 28(2): 667-75. ^Undergraduate student
• Ban B-K, Jun M-H, Ryu H-H, Jang D-K, Ahmad ST, and Lee J-A (2013) Autophagy negatively regulates early axon growth in cortical neurons. Molecular and Cellular Biology 33(19): 3907-19
• Ahmad ST and Lee J-A (2013) Molecular mechanisms underlying the role of autophagy in neurodegenerative diseases. Autophagy: Cancer, Other pathologies, Inflammation, Immunity, Infection, and Aging. Vol 1: Molecular mechanisms. Elsevier. Ed: Hayat MA
• St. Laurent RM^, O'Brien L, and Ahmad ST (2013) Sodium butyrate improves locomotor impairment and early mortality in a Drosophila model of Parkinson's disease. Neuroscience 246: 382-90. ^Undergraduate student
• Ahmad ST, Steinmetz SB^, Bussey HM^, Possidente B, and Seggio JA (2013) Larval ethanol exposure alters free-running circadian rhythm and per locus transcription in adult Drosophila melanogaster period mutants. Behavioural Brain Research 241: 50-5. ^Undergraduate student
• Seggio JA*, Possidente B*, and Ahmad ST* (2012) Larval ethanol exposure alters adult circadian free-running locomotor activity rhythm in Drosophila melanogaster. Chronobiology International 29 (1): 75-81. *Equal contribution
• Danner GR, Muto KW^, Zeiba A^, Stillman CS^, Seggio JA, and Ahmad ST (2011) Spearmint oil (Carvone) and wintergreen oil (methyl salicylate) emulsion is an effective anesthetic of fishes. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management 2(2): 146-55. ^Undergraduate student
• Ahmad ST, Sweeney ST, Lee JA, Sweeney NT, and Gao FB (2009) Genetic screen identifies serpin5 as a regulator of the Toll pathway and CHMP2B toxicity associated with frontotemporal dementia. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106(29): 12168-73
• Lee JA, Beigneux A*, Ahmad ST*, Young SG, and Gao FB (2007) ESCRT-III dysfunction causes autophagosome accumulation and neurodegeneration. Current Biology 17(18): 1561-7. *Equal contribution
• Ahmad ST, Natochin M, Artemyev NO, and O'Tousa JE (2007) The role of Rh1 rhodopsin domains in maintenance of Drosophila photoreceptor cell structure. FASEB Journal 21(2): 449-55
• Natochin M, Barren B, Ahmad ST, O'Tousa JE, and Artemyev NO (2006) Probing rhodopsin-transducin interaction using Drosophila Rh1-bovine rhodopsin chimeras. Vision Research 46(27): 4575-81
• Ahmad ST, Natochin M, Barren B, Artemyev NO, and O'Tousa JE (2006) Heterologous expression of bovine rhodopsin in Drosophila photoreceptor cells. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 47(9): 3722-28
• Ahmad ST, Joyce MV, Boggess B, and O'Tousa JE (2006) The role of Drosophila NinaG oxidoreductase in visual pigment chromophore biogenesis. Journal of Biological Chemistry 281(14): 9205-09
• Sarfare S, Ahmad ST, Joyce MV, Boggess B, and O'Tousa JE (2005) The Drosophila NinaG oxidoreductase acts in visual pigment chromophore production. Journal of Biological Chemistry 280(12): 11895-901