Farrukh Aqil, Ph.D.

Education:

B. Sc. (Chemistry)            Aligarh Muslim University, India, 1998
M. Sc. (Microbiology)     Aligarh Muslim University, India, 2000
Ph. D. (Microbiology)     Aligarh Muslim University, India, 2006
MS (Biostatistics)            University of Louisville, KY, USA, 2022
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville, USA, 2007-2012

Curriculum Vitae

Current Positions:

Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine
Member, Brown Cancer Center
Member, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Louisville School of Medicine

Contact Information:

Delia Baxter Research Building, Room 304B
University of Louisville
580 S. Preston St
Louisville, KY 40202, USA
Phone 502-852-7315
Fax 502-852-3842
Email: farrukh.aqil@louisville.edu

Research Description

Dr. Aqil’s research focuses on cancer prevention and control, primarily targeting breast and lung cancers, utilizing both standard chemotherapeutic drugs and agents of natural origin. Dr. Aqil's innovative work in this cutting-edge field aims to revolutionize the delivery of both small molecules and biologics. His current studies explore the role of naturally occurring nanoparticles, specifically "Exosomes," as drug delivery vehicles. Besides lung and breast tumor targeting, his team is also studying the role of exosomal delivery for brain targeting in neurological disorders, with an emphasis on Alzheimer's disease and glioblastoma.

The use of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to induce gene silencing has opened a new avenue in drug discovery. His group is leveraging exosomes for the delivery of biologics, including siRNA and plasmid DNA. Dr. Aqil's team is also developing novel combinatorial approaches by testing natural agents and standard chemotherapy drugs on both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant cancer cells.

Dr. Aqil has authored or co-authored over 95 articles in peer-reviewed journals, contributed to 15 book chapters, and edited four books. He has presented his work in over 100 abstracts and oral presentations at various conferences. Additionally, he serves as the section editor-in-chief of the journal "Cancers" and is an associate editor and editorial board member of several other journals.

Literature Cited:

  1. Saeed, M., Alshammari, N., Saeed, A., AL-Shammary, AA.,  Alabdallah, NM.,  Ahmad, I., and Aqil, F. Molecular interactions of cucurbitacins A and B with anaplastic lymphoma kinase for lung cancer treatment. Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, 2023, PMID: 37921698.
  2. Wallen, M., Aqil, F., Spencer, W., Gupta, R. Milk/Colostrum Exosomes: A Nanoplatform Advancing Delivery of Cancer Therapeutics. Cancer Letters, 2023, 561, 216141, PMID: 36963459.
  3. Wallen, M., Aqil, F., Spencer, W., Gupta, R. Exosomes as an Emerging Plasmid Delivery Vehicle for Gene Therapy. Pharmaceutics, 2023, 15(7), 1832. PMID: 37514019.
  4. Moholkar, D. Kandimalla, R., Gupta, RC., and Aqil, F. Advances in lipid-based carriers for cancer therapeutics: Liposomes, exosomes and hybrid exosomes. Cancer letters, 565: 216220, 2023, PMID: 37209944.
  5. Kandimalla, R., Saeed, M., Tyagi, N., Gupta, RC., and Aqil, F. Exosome-based Approaches in the Management of Alzheimer’s Disease. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 144: 104974, 2023 PMID: 36435392.
  6. Aqil, F., Munagala, R., Agrawal, AK., Jeyabalan, J., Tyagi, N., Rai, S.N., and Gupta RC. Anthocyanidins Inhibit Growth and Chemosensitize Triple-Negative Breast Cancer via the NF-κB Signaling Pathway. Cancers (Basel). 2021, 13(24):6248. PMID: 34944868.
  7. Wallen, M., Aqil, F., Kandimalla, R., Jeyabalan, J., Auwardt, S., Tyagi, N., Schultz, D. Spencer, W., Gupta, R. A model system for antiviral siRNA therapeutics using exosome-based delivery. Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids, 2022, 29, 691-704. PMID: 35992044
  8. Trivedi A, R., Upadhyay TK, Kausar MA, Saeed A, Sharangi AB, Almatroudi A, Alabdallah NA, Saeed M, Aqil, F. Nanotechnological interventions of the microbiome as a next-generation antimicrobial therapy. Science of the Total Environment 833 (2022) 155085. PMID: 35398124.
  9. Saeed M., Shoaib A., Kandimalla, R., Javed, S., Almatroudi, A.,GuptaR, Aqil F. Microbes Based Therapies for Colorectal Cancer: Advantages and Limitations. Seminars in Cancer Biology. 2022 86 (3); 652-665. PMID: 34020027.
  10. *Munagala, R., *Aqil, F., Jeyabalan, J., Kandimalla, R., Wallen, M., Tyagi, T., Wilcher, S. Yan, J., Schultz, DJ., Spencer, S. and Gupta, RC. Exosome-mediated delivery of RNA and DNA for gene therapy. Cancer Letters. 505: 58-72, 2021. PMID: 33610731
  11. Aqil, F., Jeyabalan, J., Munagala, R., Ahmad, I., Schultz, DJ., and Gupta R. Cumin Prevents 17β-Estradiol-Associated Breast Cancer in ACI Rats. International Journal of Molecular Sci, 2021, 22(12), 6194. PMID: 34201250.
  12. *Kandimalla, R., *Aqil, F., Jeyabalan, J., Alhakeem, S., Tyagi, N., Agrawal, A., Yan, J., Spencer, W., Bondada, S., and Gupta, RC., Targeted oral delivery of paclitaxel using colostrum derived exosomes. Cancers, 2021, 13 (15), 3700. PMID: 34359601
  13. Kyakulaga AH, *Aqil, F., Munagala, R., and Gupta R. Synergistic Combinations of Paclitaxel and Withaferin A against Human Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells. Oncotarget. 2020, 11(16):1399-1416. PMID: 32362998.
  14. Aqil F, Munagala R, Jeyabalan J, Agrawal AK, Kyakulaga AH, Wilcher SA, Gupta RC. Milk exosomes - Natural nanoparticles for siRNA delivery. Cancer Lett. 449: 186-195, 2019. PMID: 30771430.
  15. Kyakulaga, AH, Aqil, F., Munagala, R. and Ramesh Gupta. Withaferin A inhibits Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells. Scientific Reports. 2018 24;8(1):15737. PMID: 30356176.
  16. Aqil, F., J Munagala, R., Jeyabalan, J., Agrawal, AK., and Gupta R. Exosomes for the enhanced bioavailability and efficacy of curcumin. The AAPS Journal, 2017 19(6):1691-1702. PMID: 29047044.
  17. *Agrawal, AK., *Aqil, F., Jeyabalan, J., Spencer, WA., Beck, J., Gachuki, BW., Alhakeem, SS., Oben, K., Munagala, R., Bondada, S. and Gupta R. Milk-derived exosomes for oral delivery of paclitaxel. Nanomedicine. 2017, 13(5):1627-1636. PMID: 28300659
  18. Munagala, R., Aqil, F., Jeyabalan, J., Agrawal, AK., Mudd, A.M., Al-Hassan, K., Vadhanam, MV. and Gupta R. Exosomal formulation of anthocyanidins against multiple cancer types.  Cancer Letters.  2017 May 1;393: 94-102. PMID: 28202351.
  19. *Munagala R, *Aqil F, Jeyabalan J, and Gupta RC. Bovine milk-derived exosomes for drug delivery. Cancer Letters. 2016, 371: 48-61. PMID: 26604130.
  20. Munagala R, Aqil F, and Gupta RC. Exosomal miRNAs as biomarkers of recurrent lung cancer. Tumor Biology. 2016, 37(8):10703-14. PMID: 26867772.

PubMed Information