Junaid Ur Rahim, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Radiology
School of Medicine

This work integrates synthetic chemistry, radiochemistry, and chemical biology to develop molecular probes capable of interrogating disease-associated biological processes in vivo. My broader research experience spans medicinal chemistry, peptide and peptidomimetic design, non-natural amino acids, self-assembling systems, and nanomedicine, with applications in antimicrobial and antibiofilm research, cancer, wound healing, and targeted therapeutics. My earlier work focused particularly on understanding how molecular structure, conformation, chirality, and self-assembly influence biological activity. Together, these experiences have shaped my research interests at the interface of molecular design, chemical biology, and molecular imaging, with the goal of developing new tools for understanding, detecting, and ultimately improving the management of disease.

• Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology
  Tumor microenvironment-responsive self-assembling polymeric prodrug-based nanomaterials for cancer therapy 2024 Pooja Rani, Junaid Ur Rahim, Samiksha Patra, Reena Gupta, Monica Gulati, Bhupinder Kapoor
• Peptidoglycan-Targeted [18F]3,3,3-Trifluoro-d-alanine Tracer for Imaging Bacterial Infection.
  JACS Au 2024 Sorlin AM, López-Álvarez M, Biboy J, Gray J, Rabbitt SJ, Rahim JU, Lee SH, Bobba KN, Blecha J, Parker MFL, Flavell RR, Engel J, Ohliger M, Vollmer W, Wilson DM
• Synthesis and characterization of piperic acid conjugates with homochiral and heterochiral dipeptides containing phenylalanine and their application in skin cancer.
  Peptides 2023 Ur Rahim J, Faheem MM, Nawaz S, Goswami A, Rai R
• Synthesis, Characterization, and Antimicrobial Activity of Ultra-Short Cationic β-Peptides.
  ACS infectious diseases 2023 Chowdhary R, Mubarak MM, Kantroo HA, Ur Rahim J, Malik A, Sarkar AR, Bashir G, Ahmad Z, Rai R
• Synthesis, characterization, and wound healing properties of α/γ hybrid peptides.
  Journal of peptide science : an official publication of the European Peptide Society 2023 Ur Rahim J, Khalid A, Shankar S, Qasam I, Yadav G, Rai R
• Synthesis, conformation and cytotoxic activity of short hybrid peptides containing conformationally constrained 1-(aminomethyl)cyclohexanecarboxylic acid and gabapentin.
  Peptides 2022 Ur Rahim J, Ahmad SM, Amin T, Chowdhary R, Goswami A, Rai R
• Heterochiral dipeptide d-phenylalanyl- l-phenylalanine (H-D Phe-L Phe-OH) as a potential inducer of metastatic suppressor NM23H1 in p53 wild-type and mutant cells.
  Molecular carcinogenesis 2022 Faheem MM, Rahim JU, Ahmad SM, Mir KB, Kaur G, Bhagat M, Rai R, Goswami A
• Conformation of Achiral α/β Hybrid Peptides Containing Glycine and 1‐Aminocyclohexaneacetic Acid
  ChemistrySelect 2022 Sudha Shankar, Deeti Jyothi, Junaid ur Rahim, Purna Chandra Pal, Umesh Prasad Singh, Rajkishor Rai
• Synergistic antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities of piperic acid and 4-ethylpiperic acid amides in combination with ciprofloxacin.
  The Journal of antibiotics 2022 Singh G, Wani NA, Rahim JU, Shankar S, Rai R, Katoch M
• Synthesis and Application of (S)‐Nicotine‐Based Chiral Ionic Liquids in Enantiomeric Recognition by Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy
  ChemistrySelect 2021 Nirmaljeet Kaur, Junaid Ur Rahim, Rajkishore Rai, Harish Kumar Chopra
• Tetrahydropiperic acid (THPA) conjugated cationic hybrid dipeptides as antimicrobial agents.
  The Journal of antibiotics 2021 Ur Rahim J, Singh G, Shankar S, Katoch M, Rai R
• Investigation of α/γ hybrid peptide self-assembled structures with antimicrobial and antibiofilm properties.
  Journal of peptide science : an official publication of the European Peptide Society 2020 Shankar S, Singh G, Rahim JU, Qayum A, Sharma PR, Katoch M, Rai R
• Self-Assembly in Peptides Containing β-and γ-amino Acids.
  Current protein & peptide science 2020 Shankar S, Rai R