Muhammad Asif Naeem has earned a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology (CEMB), University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Currently, he serves as the in-charge of the Vision Impairment Lab, Assistant Professor (TTS), and Principal Investigator of the HEC NRPU project titled “Investigating the Molecular Basis of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP).” He conducted research by employing traditional linkage analyses coupled with next-generation sequencing technology. The Medical Genetics course underwent modification and improvement following his training from NIH during the Summit in 2018.

As a member of the organizing committees, he has actively participated in International Symposia on Molecular Biology of Plants and Health Sciences at CEMB, Lahore, Pakistan. He has established links with Eye Hospitals such as Layton Rehmatulla Benevolent Trust (LRBT) Eye Hospital, Allama Iqbal Medical College Research Centre, and the Ophthalmology Department of Jinnah Hospital at the national level. Additionally, he has forged international collaborations with the National Eye Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, and the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, USA.

His primary objective has been to prevent heritable forms of blindness in Pakistan through screening, research, and education. DNA samples from 154 consanguineous Pakistani families, affected by Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and Congenital Cataract (CC), underwent comprehensive processing to identify pathogenic mutations. Genome-wide scan and exome sequencing data were thoroughly analyzed, and he equally trained two Ph.D. research students in these techniques. A total of thirty-six (36) manuscripts have been published in international peer-reviewed journals. The screening for autosomal recessive RP and CC aims to provide early diagnosis and prognosis for affected and unaffected individuals within the Pakistani population

Selected Publications: 

1. Muhammad Iqbal, Muhammad Asif Naeem, S. Amer Riazuddin, Shahbaz Ali, Tahir Farooq, Zaheeruddin A. Qazi, Shaheen N. Khan, Tayyab Husnain, Saima Riazuddin, Paul A. Sieving, J. Fielding Hejtmancik, Sheikh Riazuddin. Pathogenic mutations in TULP1 are associated with Retinitis pigmentosa in consanguineous Pakistani families. Arch Ophthalmol. 2011; 129 (10): 1351-1357. http://doi.org/10.1001/archophthalmol.2011.267.
2. Muhammad Asif Naeem, Venkata R. M. Chavali, Shahbaz Ali, Muhammad Iqbal, Saima Riazuddin, Shaheen N. Khan, Tayyab Husnain, Paul A. Sieving, Radha Ayyagari, Sheikh Riazuddin, J. Fielding Hejtmancik, and S. Amer Riazuddin. GNAT1 Associated with Autosomal Recessive Congenital Stationary Night Blindness. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2012 Mar 13; 53(3): 1353-61. http://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.11-8026. 
3. Emma M. Jenkinson, Atteeq U. Rehman, Tom Walsh, Jill Clayton-Smith, Kwanghyuk Lee, Robert J. Morell, Meghan C. Drummond, Shaheen N. Khan, Muhammad Asif Naeem, Bushra Rauf, Neil Billington, Julie M. Schultz, Jill E. Urquhart, Ming K. Lee, Andrew Berry, Neil A. Hanley, Sarju Mehta, Deirdre Cilliers, Peter E. Clayton, Helen Kingston, Miriam J. Smith, Thomas T. Warner, University of Washington Center for Mendelian Genomics, Graeme C. Black, Dorothy Trump, Julian R.E. Davis, Wasim Ahmad, Suzanne M. Leal, Sheikh Riazuddin, Mary-Claire King, Thomas B. Friedman, and William G. Newman. Perrault Syndrome Is Caused by Recessive Mutations in CLPP, Encoding a Mitochondrial ATP-Dependent Chambered Protease. Am J Hum Genet. 2013, 92: 605-613. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.02.013
4. Firoz Kabir, Shagufta Naz, S. Amer Riazuddin, Muhammad Asif Naeem, Shaheen N. Khan, Tayyab Husnain, Javed Akram, Paul A. Sieving, J. Fielding Hejtmancik, Sheikh Riazuddin. Novel Mutations in RPE65 Identified in Consanguineous Pakistani Families with Retinal Dystrophies. Mol. Vis. 2013; 19:1554-1564. PMID: 23878505 
5. David Li, Chongfei Jin, Xiaodong Jiao, Lin Li, Tahmina Bushra, Muhammad Asif Naeem, Nadeem H. Butt, Tayyab Husnain, Paul A. Sieving, Sheikh Riazuddin, S. Amer Riazuddin, and J. Fielding Hejtmancik. AIPL1 is implicated in the pathogenesis of two autosomal recessive retinal degeneration cases. Mol. Vis.2014; 20:1-14. PMID: 24426771
6. Maranhao B, Biswas P, Duncan JL, Branham KE, Silva GA, Muhammad Asif Naeem, Khan SN, Riazuddin S, Hejtmancik JF, Heckenlively JR, Riazuddin SA, Lee PL, Ayyagari R. ExomeSuite: Whole exome sequence variant filtering tool for rapid identification of putative disease-causing SNVs/indels. Genomics 2014 Mar 3. 103(2-3): 169-176. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0136561.
7. Daud S, Shahzad S, Shafique M, Bhinder MA, Niaz M, Muhammad Asif Naeem, Azam M, Rehman Z, Husnain T. (2014). Optimization and Validation of PCR protocol for three Hypervariable Regions (HVI, HVII and HVIII) in Human Mitochondrial DNA. Adv. Life Sci., 1(3) pp. 165-170. https://www.als-journal.com/articles/vol1issue3/Optimization_validation_PCR_protocol_hypervariable_mtDNA_regions.pdf
8. Ali S, Khan SY, Muhammad Asif Naeem, Khan SN, Husnain T, Riazuddin S, Ayyagari R, Riazuddin S, Hejtmancik JF, Riazuddin SA. Phenotypic Variability Associated with the D226N Allele of IMPDH1. Ophthalmology. 2015 Feb; 122(2):429-31. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2014.07.057. 
9. Khan SY, Ali S, Muhammad AsifNaeem, Khan SN, Husnain T, Butt NH, Qazi ZA, Akram J, Riazuddin S, Ayyagari R, Hejtmancik JF, Riazuddin SA. Splice-site mutations identified in PDE6A are responsible for retinitis pigmentosa in consanguineous Pakistani families. Mol Vis. 2015 Aug 18; 21:871-82. PMID: 26321862 
10. Maranhao B, Biswas P, Gottsch AD, Navani M, Muhammad Asif Naeem, Suk J, Chu J, Khan SN, Poleman R, Akram J, Riazuddin S, Lee P, Riazuddin SA, Hejtmancik JF, Ayyagari R. Investigating the Molecular Basis of Retinal Degeneration in a Familial Cohort of Pakistani Decent by Exome Sequencing. PLoS One. 2015 Sep 9; 10(9): e0136561. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0136561