Research interests
Questions behind the surveillance patterns.
My interests connect genomics, epidemiology and reproducible bioinformatics. I want to understand the biological and observational processes behind surveillance patterns, and make that evidence useful to the teams making public-health decisions.
Experience in Pakistan is a starting point for these questions, not a geographic boundary. I am interested in problems shared across settings where data are incomplete, resources are constrained and the consequences of interpretation matter.
Why do dengue patterns change over time?
My collaborative studies of dengue outbreaks in 2022, 2023 and 2024 documented changes in the serotypes represented in referred samples. Those observations raise a further question: how much of a change reflects population immunity, differences in exposure, viral population dynamics or changes in how infections are detected?
I want to learn how genomic and epidemiological data can be combined to investigate these explanations without treating a change in a surveillance dataset as proof of a single biological cause.
What do respiratory-virus data reveal—and what do they miss?
Work on RSV, influenza and SARS-CoV-2 has shown me the value of studying pathogens in their epidemiological context. Who is sampled, when they seek care and which tests are used can shape the patterns seen in sequencing data.
I am interested in the interaction between viral evolution, host immunity and exposure, and in statistical approaches that make uncertainty and sampling limitations explicit. Mathematical and statistical modelling are areas in which I seek deeper doctoral training.
How can research remain useful after an analysis is finished?
My practical contribution is to connect laboratory experience with reproducible analysis, clear documentation and training. I value work that another scientist can review, understand and maintain—not just a result that can be reproduced once.
These interests extend to research software, quality documentation, scientific communication and training in clinical and public-health genomics.
Locally grounded questions with wider relevance
Research using local data should be developed through appropriate permissions, meaningful collaboration and shared benefits. Access to a dataset is not a substitute for a good research question or an equitable partnership.
I welcome opportunities across genomics, bioinformatics, pathogen evolution and public health. These themes describe directions I would like to develop with collaborators and supervisors; they are not a fixed proposal or a commitment to one organism or method.