Shoaib Manzoor, Ph.D.

Background

Shoaib Manzoor obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry at Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi, India (2022) under the mentorship of Prof. Nasimul Hoda. During his doctoral research, he worked on the in silico design, synthesis and biological screening of anti-neurodegenerative agents. Following his doctoral studies, he worked as a Project Associate with Dr. Bhavana Prasher (Sr. Pr. Scientist) at CSIR-Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology, New Delhi, India, where he was primarily engaged in natural product chemistry including the extraction, Isolation and diversification of natural products. Subsequenty, he moved to the University of Bath, United Kingdom as a postdoctoral research associate (PDRA) with Prof. Stephen Husbands (2022–2024), where he gained substantial expertise in drug design and synthesis of opioid receptor ligands. During this period, he worked on the resynthesis and new synthesis of CNS targeted ligands with therapeutic potential, particularly those interacting with multiple receptors (like mu, kappa and NOP opioid receptors), but with defined efficacy at each receptor (selectively promiscuous ligands). He also contributed to the development of novel dual-target opioid and dopamine D₃ receptor ligands. In 2024, Shoaib joined Dr. Newman’s lab as a postdoctoral fellow in the Medicinal Chemistry Section at NIDA. Currently, he is involved in various research projects related to the design and synthesis of new ligands that can effectively bind to both dopamine D₃ and mu opioid receptors that may provide new leads for safer opioid analgesics.