Faculty Profile

Muhammad Tariq received his PhD in Molecular Cell Biology from Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Switzerland. During his PhD, he worked in Jerzy Paszkowski's lab specializing in epigenetics of gene silencing in Arabidopsis. In 2003, he joined Renato Paro's lab as a postdoctoral fellow at Zentrum fur Molekulare Biologie Heidelberg (ZMBH). He was awarded prestigious EMBO long term fellowship for his postdoctoral studies elucidating a link between molecular chaperones, in particular Hsp90 (Heat shock protein 90), and epigenetics in Drosophila. He joined ETH Zurich as an Oberassistant (Senior Researcher) in 2006, where he continued his work on Hsp90 and Epigenetics in Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE), Basel, Switzerland. He joined Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering as an Associate Professor in 2009 and started developing Biology Program. He led the development of departmental vision and mission, curriculum and recruitment of one of the finest team of faculty in Pakistan who specializes in Cell and Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics, Microbiology and Biochemistry. In addition, he also led the development of biology research and teaching programs at undergraduate and graduate levels. 

His research interests include molecular link between epigenetic cell memory and cell signaling during development and the epigenetic basis of diseases. To pursue his research interests, Tariq lab primarily focuses on a paradigm based on Polycomb group (PcG) and Trithorax group (TrxG) proteins using the Drosophila and mammalian cultured cells. He has developed first epigenetic research lab in Pakistan which uses Drosophila to teach basic concepts of genetics, epigenetics and development. He has taught several courses at LUMS which include Genetics, Developmental Biology, Molecular Biology, Gene regulation and Epigenetics, Fundamentals of Molecular Techniques and Methods lab in Molecular Biology.