Aliasger Salem Ph.D.

UI professors receive grant to help prevent vision loss from corneal disease Two University of Iowa professors are heading a research team that is exploring ways to prevent or reduce vision loss from a degenerative eye disease.

Iowa Now: UI professors Aliasger Salem and Mark Greiner receive new 5-year $2.85 million NIH grant to help prevent vision loss from corneal disease. now.uiowa.edu/news/2025/06...

Attention UIowa Summer Undergrad Researchers: On June 18th at 1:30pm in C44-A General Hospital, the undergraduate B.E.S.T. Researcher summer program will hold a panel discussion with myself, Ned Bowden, and Sarah Sapouckey on intellectual property and starting a company.

Just published: Cyclodextrin-Based Inclusion Complexes Improve the In Vitro Solubility and Pharmacokinetics of Ivacaftor Following Oral Administration in Mice. Nakhla et al. Link to article: rdcu.be/emoRw

The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) | @aapscomms National Biotechnology Conference in Boston #NBC2025 has started. The opening talk is from Dr. Nikhil Munshi, Professor of Medicine at Harvard University and Director at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

In situ treatment with a TLR9 agonist virus-like particle to promote immune responses against oral epithelial dysplasia progression - Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy Leukoplakia, a common type of oral dysplasia, is simply defined as a white patch in the mouth or other mucosal surface. Oral dysplasia is the most common premalignancy in the oral cavity and yet it is...

Just published: In situ treatment with a TLR9 agonist virus-like particle to promote immune responses against oral epithelial dysplasia progression. Xu et al. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

I’m delighted to share that our company S5G Therapeutics won the $50,000 first prize tonight in this year’s JPEC Innovation Challenge! We look forward to moving our therapy for surface ocular diseases into the clinic as our planned next steps.

The Heartland Environmental Alliance for Resilience & Transformation (HEART) – Improving the Lives and Livelihoods of People Across the Heartland Through Environmental Change Resilience Research, Educ... Logo of HEART ( The Heartland Environmental Alliance for Resilience & Transformation)

Now published: The Heartland Environmental Alliance for Resilience & Transformation (HEART) – Improving the Lives and Livelihoods of People Across the Heartland Through Environmental Change Resilience Research, Education, and Outreach. doi.org/10.1029/2024...

The National Academy of Inventors has ranked the University of Iowa in the top 100 U.S. Universities granted U.S. utility patents through procurement of United States patents to protect the intellectual property of their accomplishments in innovation and invention.

The annual 2025 Society For Biomaterials meeting has been excellent. Mohammad Alnatour, Esraa Mohamed, Apurva Dusane, Ramkrishna Sen and Adam Salem all gave outstanding presentations. #SFB2025

UI welcomes new member class to NAI chapter The University of Iowa’s local chapter of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) has selected six new members to join in 2025.An institutional member of the NAI, the University of Iowa Research Found...

The University of Iowa welcomes new members Drs Sandeep Laroia, Robert Philibert, Suresh Raghavan, Kristina Thiel, Molly Kucera and Maleeha Naseem to the local University of Iowa National Academy of Inventors chapter. Congratulations! research.uiowa.edu/news/2025/04...

Collaborative paper with Mark Greiner in press: Iron-Sulfur Clusters and Iron Responsive Element Binding Proteins Mediate Iron Accumulation in Corneal Endothelial Cells in Fuchs Dystrophy. Hartness et al. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx...

Collaborative paper with Mark Greiner in press: Iron-Sulfur Clusters and Iron Responsive Element Binding Proteins Mediate Iron Accumulation in Corneal Endothelial Cells in Fuchs Dystrophy. Hartness et al. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx...

6 faculty honored with 2025 Regents Award for Faculty Excellence The Iowa Board of Regents has selected six outstanding University of Iowa faculty members to be honored for their extraordinary contributions and sustained record of excellence in teaching, scholarshi...

I am delighted to share that I have received the 2025 Regents Award for Faculty Excellence. The award provides a state-wide forum in which the excellence of faculty members is recognized and shared with colleagues from other Regent institutions. now.uiowa.edu/news/2025/04...

My visit to Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy today was excellent. The visit was also an excellent opportunity for our new $13 million VCU-Iowa program project team (including Drs Sarkar and Fisher) focused on treating liver cancer to connect and plan next steps.

Tomorrow is One Day for Iowa, and University of Iowa Core Equipment Facilities needs you!
Give to University of Iowa @UIowaResearch Core Equipment Facilities 1dayforiowa.org/VPR25

Im looking forward to presenting my research at VCU School of Pharmacy this Friday, (03/28). My favorite invitations to speak are consistently the ones that come from the students and I'm grateful to the AAPS VCU student chapter for planning the visit.

Blood Test May Help Guide Colorectal Cancer Treatment Measuring ctDNA in the blood may be a promising way to identify whether people with colorectal cancer need chemotherapy after surgery, a study has found.

Read about recent work on how circulating tumor DNA in blood samples can predict which colorectal cancer patients should and should not get chemotherapy from my good friend, colleague and collaborator Dr. Pashtoon Kasi. www.cancer.gov/news-events/...

Collaborative paper in press: Astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) in myeloid cells is a key driver for the development of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. authors.elsevier.com/c/1ko~33AAzz...

Entrepreneurial Mindset Drives Salem’s Startups to Innovation and Impact Every successful startup begins with an entrepreneurial mind. For Aliasger Salem, that mindset has fueled not just one, but two businesses—both of which have completed the prestigious NSF I-Corps prog...

The John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center at U Iowa plays a critical role in promoting entrepreneurship and supporting start up companies. This includes running the NSF I-Corps program that I currently help to lead. Read more about my own JPEC experience here: iowajpec.org/news/2025/03...

The University Lecture Committee organized an event: “An evening with Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee: The Art of Cancer Research” on March 4th. He read from his book “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer” and shared his thoughts on the current state of cancer research.

Selenium is an essential nutrient named after the Greek goddess of the Moon − crucial to health, it may help prevent and treat cancer You need only trace amounts of selenium to survive. Falling outside of this narrow therapeutic window can have significant health consequences.

Selenium is an essential nutrient named after the Greek goddess of the Moon − crucial to health, it may help prevent and treat cancer. Click on the link below to learn more: theconversation.com/selenium-is-...

In press: Gene‑activation of surface‑modified 3D printed calcium phosphate scaffolds. Noah Zach Laird, Pornpoj Phruttiwanichakun, Esraa Mohamed, Timothy Acri, LR Jaidev Chakka, Aliasger K. Salem. BMC Chemistry. 2025. rdcu.be/eaP2H @UIPharmacy

I am pleased to share that myself, Mark Greiner (University of Iowa) and Sara Thomasy (UC Davis) have been awarded a new National Institutes of Health (National Eye Institute) R01 grant for $2.85 million focused on "Modulating Ferroptosis in Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy".

How much does scientific progress cost? Without government dollars for research infrastructure, breakthroughs become improbable It costs money to maintain the various facilities, utilities and personnel that allow scientists to conduct research in the first place. Without federal support, institutions are left scrambling.

Read my latest article discussing indirect costs on @NIH grants: "How much does scientific progress cost? Without government dollars for research infrastructure, breakthroughs become improbable." in The Conversation.
theconversation.com/how-much-doe...

Indirect costs are how the government supports research infrastructure for the nation and are critical to all research activities. They cover real expenses, including buildings and labs, equipment, and staff who support our research. The figure below shows what indirects cover

Phase I Clinical Trial of High Doses of Seleno-L-methionine in Combination with Axitinib in Patients with Previously Treated Metastatic Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Abstract. Background: Data in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) xenografts defined the seleno-L-methionine (SLM) dose and the plasma selenium concentrations associated with the enhancement of HI...

Collaborative study led by Dr. Yousef Zakharia in press: Phase I Clinical Trial of High Doses of Seleno-L-methionine in Combination with Axitinib in Patients with Previously Treated Metastatic Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma. doi.org/10.1158/1078...

3D bioprinted ferret mesenchymal stem cell-laden cartilage grafts for laryngotracheal reconstruction in a ferret surgical model Chondrogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) within a three-dimensional (3D) environment can be guided to form cartilage-like tissue in vitro to generate cartilage grafts for implanta...

In press: 3D bioprinted ferret mesenchymal stem cell-laden cartilage grafts for laryngotracheal reconstruction in a ferret surgical model. McMillan et al. Biomaterials Science. pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

Medical research depends on government money – even a day’s delay in the intricate funding process throws science off-kilter A member of a grant review panel explains the ins and outs of applying for research funding – and the consequences of when the process suddenly stops.

Read the following article: Medical research depends on government money – even a day’s delay in the intricate funding process throws science off-kilter. This article describes the rigorous process by which NIH make research project grant funding decisions.
theconversation.com/medical-rese...

In proud to share that Esraa Mohamed has been featured in this year's University of Iowa Dare to Discover Campaign. Esraa is developing therapies to counteract toxic gas exposures. Learn more at the following page:
dare.research.uiowa.edu/mohamed-esraa/

Meet phosphine, a gas commonly used for industrial fumigation that can damage your lungs, heart and liver While scientists still aren’t sure how phosphine wreaks so much havoc on the body, some are developing medications that can help mitigate the harm it causes.

Meet phosphine, a gas commonly used for industrial fumigation that can damage your lungs, heart and liver. theconversation.com/meet-phosphi...