Hamza Iqbal

Hamza Iqbal is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, affiliated with the Center for Blood Oxygen Transport and Hemostasis (CBOTH). He holds a joint appointment in the Department of Animal & Avian Sciences at the University of Maryland (UMD) and is a member of the Biological Sciences Graduate Program. His research focuses on identifying genes and pathways involved in heme transport and trafficking in eukaryotes, with implications for human health and diseases like anemia, iron deficiency, and parasitic infections.

• Education:
  • B.Sc. & M.Sc., Biochemistry, University of Bombay, India (1985-1991)
  • Ph.D., Biochemistry, SUNY at Buffalo School of Medicine (1991-1997)
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Washington University School of Medicine (1997-2002)
  • Sabbaticals at NHGRI/NIH (2010-2011, 2019) and Visiting Professorship at University of Torino, Italy (2021)
• Research Interests:
  • Elucidating mechanisms of heme transport and trafficking
  • Investigating inter-organ communication via heme transporters (HRG-3, ABCC5/MRP5)
  • Exploring heme biology in parasites (hookworms, filarial worms, Leishmania)
  • Developing drug targets for parasitic infections
• Scientific Awards:
  • Fellow of AAAS (2017) and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (2012)
  • Kirwan Faculty Research and Scholarship Prize (2010)
  • Faculty Excellence Awards at UMD (2005, 2011)
  • NIH and other research fellowships (2000-02, 2002-05)
  • Chair of Gordon Research Conferences (2018-2019)
  • Patent for compounds treating parasitic infections (2019)
• Professional Activities:
  • Grant review panels for NIH, NSF, Telethon Foundation, BBSRC, etc.
  • Editorial roles at PNAS and eLife
  • Founder and President of Rakta Therapeutics, Inc. (2011)