Biography
Dr. Noor received her B.S. degree in Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in 2007 from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. She earned her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of California Riverside (UCR). Following her postdoctoral training at the Department of Neurology, University of Washington, Seattle, and the Department of Neurosciences, University of New Mexico (UNM), Albuquerque, Dr. Noor started her own research program in 2022 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosciences at UNM. Dr. Noor is an active participant in the New Mexico Alcohol Research Center (NMARC). She was awarded a National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) R01 research grant in 2022, examining adverse neuroimmune consequences from opioid (morphine) pain therapeutics in prenatal alcohol exposure conditions.
Personal Statement
The overall research focus of the Noor lab is to examine the long-term consequences of prior peripheral immune and central nervous system (CNS) glial activation modulating later-life neuroimmune and neurobehavior outcomes. We utilize diverse CNS immune insults including nerve injury and social and environmental exposures such as alcohol, opioids, and air pollutants. Ongoing research interests include exploring key mechanisms of trained immunity or innate immune reprogramming, peripheral to CNS immune interactions and their relevance to CNS injury and the resolution of neuroinflammation, with a particular focus on the regulatory role of noncoding circular RNAs. We apply multiparametric flow cytometry, single-nucleus RNA sequencing, microarray technologies, multiplex immunoassays, and primary cultures of peripheral immune cells and astrocytes from adult rodent CNS tissues to generate cell-type specific high throughput data and further our current knowledge in this emerging research area. The long-term goal of the Noor lab is to elucidate cellular and molecular mechanisms and to identify novel immune modulators that can be used as therapeutic targets to mitigate neuroimmune dysfunction and associated neurobehavioral deficits from these environmental exposures. Another major interest of the lab is to explore whether the peripheral immune mediators, in combination with blood-circulating non-coding RNA molecules, can act as potential biomarkers to identify populations “at risk” for chronic CNS immune dysfunction.
Areas of Specialty
Neuroinflammation
Opioid-mediated peripheral and neuroimmune actions
Neuropathic pain
Air pollutants-induced neuroinflammation and peripheral leukocyte trafficking
Ischemic preconditioning and the role of microglia, TLR4 and Interferon signaling
Leukocyte trafficking following injury or infection in the brain
Chemokine and adhesion molecule signaling on CNS glia
Gender
Female
Research and Scholarship
ScieszkaD, HunterR, BegayJ, Bitsui M, LinY, GalewskyJ, MorishitaM., Klaver Z, WagnerJ, HarkemaJ, HerbertG., LucasS, McVeigh C, BoltA, BleskeB, OttensA, GuH, Campen M, NoorS. Neuroinflammatory and neurometabolomic consequences from inhaled 2020 California wildfire smoke-derived particulate matter at a remote location Toxicological Sciences. 2022 Feb 28;186(1):149-162. DOI: 10.1093/toxsci/kfab147.
Noor S, SanchezJJ, SunMS, PervinZ, SanchezJE,HavardMA, Epler L, NysusMV, NorenbergJP, WagnerCR, DaviesS, SavageDD, JantzieLL, Mellios N, MilliganED. The LFA-1 antagonist BIRT377 reverses neuropathic pain in prenatal alcohol-exposed female rats via actions on peripheral and central neuroimmune function in discrete pain-relevant tissue regions. Brain, Behavior and Immunity, (2020), DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2020.01.002.
McDonough A, Noor S, Lee RV, Dodge R 3rd, Strosnider JS, Shen J, Davidson S, Möller T, Garden GA, Weinstein JR. Ischemic preconditioning induces cortical microglial proliferation and a transcriptomic program of robust cell cycle activation.Glia, (2020), 68(1):76-94, DOI: 10.1002/glia.23701.
Noor S, Sun MS, Vanderwall AG, Havard MA, Sanchez JE, Harris NW, Nysus MV, Norenberg JP, West HT, Wagner CR, Jantzie LL, Mellios N, Milligan ED. LFA-1 antagonist (BIRT377) similarly reverses peripheral neuropathic pain in male and female mice with underlying sex divergent peripheral immune proinflammatory phenotypes. Neuroimmunology Neuroinflammation, (2019), 6:10, DOI: 10.20517/2347-8659.2019.18.
Noor S, Sanchez JJ, Vanderwall AG, Sun MS, Maxwell JR, Davies S, Jantzie LL, Savage DD, Milligan ED. Prenatal alcohol exposure potentiates chronic neuropathic pain, spinal glial and immune cell activation and alters sciatic nerve and DRG cytokine levelsBrain, Behavior and Immunity, (2017), 61:80-95, DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2016.12.016.
Noor S, Milligan ED. Lifelong impacts of moderate prenatal alcohol exposure on neuroimmune function. Frontiers in Immunology, (2018), 9:1107,DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.01107.