Dr Zahra Rattray
Senior Lecturer
Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences
Personal statement
Senior Lecturer in Translational Pharmaceutics I am a pharmacist by training with experience of working within the hospital, community and industry sectors. I have contributed to a diverse molecule portfolio spanning pre-clinical to late-stage development during my time at AstraZeneca and in collaboration with Patrys Ltd at the Yale School of Medicine (PAT-DX1). My research team has two overall interests; i) Analytical characterization of parenteral formulation attributes and in vivo performance: A key challenge in the commercial translation of newly-discovered drugs is understanding the key performance indicating characteristics crucial to their biological performance and how they interact with living systems. We are interested in developing new tools to profile these performance characteristics. Areas of research interest in my lab are summarized as follows; Understanding the environmental and physicochemical determinants of solution-phase formulation stability for antibody and suspension formulations. Determining key critical quality attributes in particle design to inform optimal in vivo performance. Analytical evaluation of nanomedicine interaction with biological media, and the mechanism of cellular uptake in two- and three-dimensional cellular models. Applying novel imaging modalities for evaluating drug and nanoparticle biodistribution, and impact on tumor response. The interplay between the tumour microenvironment and nanomedicine in vivo performance with a view to developing biorelevant in vitro tests. ii) DNA repair agents and the nuclear import pathway, and their role in cancer: We are interested in screening the functional and phenotypic role of DNA repair mutations. We also develop new small molecule drugs against various nuclear import transporters known to be elevated in cancer.
Area of Expertise
Expertise
I am an interdisciplinary pharmaceutical researcher with experience in developing injectable drugs (antibodies, small molecules, and nanomedicines). I have significant expertise in the analytical characterization of critical quality attributes for these products and the design of pre-clinical studies for evaluating biological performance (biopharmaceutics).
Equipment Capabilities
My laboratory hosts a Malvern Panalytical NanoSight NS300 and Archimedes Resonant Mass Measurement, which are both used to measure particle size and concentration. If you would be interested in accessing these technologies, please get in touch (zahra.rattray@strath.ac.uk).
I am also Director for the new EPSRC Multiscale Metrology Suite (modular setup including Field Flow Fractionation, Inductively-coupled mass spectrometry, Light Scattering and Raman) for Next-Generation Health Nanotechnologies (EP/V028960/1). For more information or to access this facility, please get in touch.
Prize And Awards
- Member of the University Court
- Recipient
- 8/2024
- Strathclyde Teaching Excellence Award 2024 for Faculty of Science Breaking Barries
- Recipient
- 8/2024
- Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences Emerging Scientist Award
- Recipient
- 7/9/2023
- Saltire Society’s inaugural 40 Under 40 List
- Recipient
- 22/6/2023
- Sir Robin MacLellan Award
- Recipient
- 19/6/2023
- Women In Leadership Network+
- Recipient
- 9/3/2023
Publications
- Sex differences in colon cancer metabolism reveal a novel subphenotype
- Cai Yuping, Rattray Nicholas J W, Zhang Qian, Mironova Varvara, Santos-Neto Alvaro, Hsu Kuo-Shun, Rattray Zahra, Cross Justin R, Zhang Yawei, Paty Philip B, Khan Sajid A, Johnson Caroline H
- Scientific Reports Vol 10 (2020)
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61851-0
- ENT2 facilitates brain endothelial cell penetration and blood-brain barrier transport by a tumor-targeting anti-DNA autoantibody
- Rattray Zahra, Deng Gang, Zhang Shenqi, Shirali Anupama, May Christopher K, Chen Xiaoyong, Cuffari Benedette J, Liu Jun, Zou Pan, Rattray Nicholas JW, Johnson Caroline H, Dubljevic Valentina, Campbell James A, Huttner Anita, Baehring Joachim M, Zhou Jiangbing, Hansen James E
- JCI Insight Vol 6 (2021)
- https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.145875
- Metabolic dysregulation in vitamin E and carnitine shuttle energy mechanisms associate with human frailty
- Rattray Nicholas JW, Trivedi Drupad K, Xu Yun, Chandola Tarani, Johnson Caroline H, Marshall Alan D, Mekli Krisztina, Rattray Zahra, Tampubolon Gindo, Vanhoutte Bram, White Iain R, Wu Frederick CW, Pendleton Neil, Nazroo James, Goodacre Royston
- Nature Communications Vol 10 (2019)
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12716-2
- Evaluation of temporal aggregation processes using spatial intensity distribution analysis
- Rattray Zahra, Zindy Egor, Buzza Karen M, Pluen Alain
- Protein Self-Assembly Methods and Protocols (2019) (2019)
- https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9678-0_11
- Re-engineering and evaluation of anti-DNA autoantibody 3E10 for therapeutic applications
- Rattray Zahra, Dubljevic Valentina, Rattray Nicholas, Greenwood Deanne L, Johnson Caroline H, Campbell James A, Hansen James E
- Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications Vol 496, pp. 858-864 (2018)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2018.01.139
- A DNA-damaging lupus autoantibody synergizes with PARP inhibitors against DNA repair-deficient tumor cells
- Rattray Zahra, Patel Jaymin M, Noble Phillip W, Dubljevic Valentina, Greenwood Deanne L, Campbell James A, Hansen James E
- Cancer Research Vol 78, pp. 2773 (2018)
- https://doi.org/10.1158/1538-7445.AM2018-2773
Professional Activities
- EPSRC Peer Review College (External organisation)
- Member
- 6/7/2021
- Royal Society of Edinburgh's Young Academy of Scotland (External organisation)
- Chair
- 4/2021
- Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences Pharm Sci 2024 Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products and Biologics Session Chair
- Chair
- 4/9/2024
- SULSA Germany Applied Universities Visit
- Organiser
- 3/9/2024
- Multiomics Plasma Profiles for Early Detection of Breast Cancer within the UK Biobank
- Contributor
- 18/6/2024
- SIPBS Open Doors Day 2024
- Advisor
- 8/6/2024
Projects
- GLAS-CYTO: AN INTEGRATED FACILITY FOR THE BIOPHYSICAL ANALYSIS OF CELLULAR INTERACTIONS
- Burley, Glenn (Principal Investigator) Chamberlain, Luke (Co-investigator) Chow, Shiao (Co-investigator) Corrigan, Damion (Co-investigator) Cunningham, Margaret Rose (Co-investigator) Faulds, Karen (Co-investigator) Jamieson, Craig (Co-investigator) Rattray, Zahra (Co-investigator) Tomkinson, Nick (Co-investigator) Taladriz Sender, Andrea (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Aug-2024 - 31-Jul-2025
- A Prosperity Partnership for the Design of Next-Generation Antibody Drug Bioconjugates (Next-Gen ADC)
- Burley, Glenn (Principal Investigator) Jamieson, Craig (Co-investigator) Kerr, William (Co-investigator) Nordon, Alison (Co-investigator) Rattray, Zahra (Co-investigator) Tomkinson, Nick (Co-investigator)
- 15-Nov-2023 - 14-Nov-2028
- Developing new bioanalytical pipelines for early-stage assessment of antibody-drug conjugate developability
- Rattray, Zahra (Principal Investigator) Jamieson, Craig (Co-investigator) Jolliffe, Sophie (Research Co-investigator)
- 02-Oct-2023 - 01-Apr-2027
- Developing novel bioanalytical pipelines for complex medicines
- Rattray, Zahra (Principal Investigator) Considine, Paul (Post Grad Student) Perrie, Yvonne (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Oct-2023 - 30-Sep-2026
- Determining the effect that transgenic MHC II haplotype mice have on antibody generation against therapeutic targets
- Rattray, Zahra (Principal Investigator) Kajtar, Lewis (Post Grad Student) Nordon, Alison (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Oct-2023 - 30-Sep-2027
- Biopharmaceuticals - Investigating immune complex formation induced by bispecific antibody engagement with soluble target antigens.
- Rattray, Zahra (Principal Investigator) Jamieson, Craig (Principal Investigator) Gauntlett, Ross William (Post Grad Student)
- 01-Oct-2023 - 31-Mar-2027
Contact
Dr
Zahra
Rattray
Senior Lecturer
Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences
Email: zahra.rattray@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 2106