Zeenat completed her Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of San Francisco in 2013. Throughout her Bachelor’s degree, Zeenat worked in several different Labs as a Research Assistant ranging from Urology to Regenerative Medicine investigating the role of targeted transcription factors for cancer therapeutics. After her Bachelor’s she worked at the University of California San Francisco as a Junior Specialist in Prof. Robert Belloch’s Regenerative Medicine Lab examining the role of a transcription factor in prostate cancer cell lines.
Furthermore, she worked at a Pharmaceutical Company in India, as a Project Trainee in a Drug Discovery Lab under Dr. Debjani Bhar. After gaining an eclectic range of skills from different Labs and countries her research interest shifted from Cancer and Biomedical Science to sustainable bio-product formulation. This was a result of her prolonged interest in investigating the effects of climate change and food systems on human health.
Therefore, her passion brought her to Australia, where she completed her Master of Molecular Biology from The University of Queensland in 2017, in Prof. Ben Hankamer’s Lab investigating the role of genetically modifying microalgae for sustainable biofuel production. This led to the start of her PhD in 2018 in Prof. Ben Hankamer’s Lab, where she is currently optimising nutrient conditions for the upscale production and development of algae-based bio-products from waste systems. Besides academia, Zeenat is a Yoga Instructor and a Scuba diver.