Tayyaba Hasan facts for kids

Tayyaba Hasan is a professor at Harvard Medical School who studies skin. She helped create Visudyne, a medicine approved to treat an eye disease that affects older people. She won the 2018 SPIE Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award.

Early Life and Education

Tayyaba Hasan was born in Pakistan. She earned her first degree in chemistry from the University of Karachi in 1966. She focused on organic chemistry. In 1968, she earned her master's degree. She gained a second master's degree from the University of Islamabad in 1970. She also won a special scholarship called the National Merit Scholarship.

Later, she moved to the United States to study at the University of Arkansas. She earned her PhD (a very high degree) in organic chemistry in 1980. She was also chosen to join Sigma Xi, a science honor society.

Research and Discoveries

After finishing her PhD, Dr. Hasan became a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1982, she joined Harvard Medical School. She worked with another scientist, Alan Oseroff. They used light-sensitive substances to target cells. She found a way to aim these light-sensitive substances at tiny parts inside cells.

Dr. Hasan uses a special treatment called photodynamic therapy (PDT). This therapy uses light and a special medicine to find and treat diseases. She has taught many doctors, including eye doctors and skin doctors, how to use this method.

She showed that certain chemicals, called benzoporphyrin derivatives, could help get rid of unwanted blood vessels in the eye. With Ursula Schmidt, she discovered Visudyne. Visudyne is a medicine used to treat a common eye problem in older people. Dr. Hasan holds more than twenty patents for her inventions.

In 2009, she became a professor of dermatology. Her recent work looks at new ways to treat brain tumors and ovarian cancer. She also works on diseases like leishmaniasis, mycobacterium tuberculosis, and MRSA (a type of infection).

Dr. Hasan's lab studies how photodynamic therapy works. She leads a project funded by the National Cancer Institute. This project uses imaging to guide therapy for pancreatic and skin cancers.

Hasan Lab Projects

The Hasan Lab works on several important research projects:

• Finding small molecules to make photodynamic therapy better for skin cancer.
• Using endoscopic photodynamic therapy for pancreatic tumors.
• Designing new combination therapies for pancreatic cancer.
• Developing ways to measure and image PDT treatments.

Dr. Hasan has also been a leader in many science groups. She was the President of the International Photodynamic Association. She also served as President of the American Society for Photobiology from 2010 to 2012. She helped write a book about photodynamic therapy in 2014.

Awards and Recognition

Dr. Tayyaba Hasan has received many awards for her important work:

• 2019: Fellow of The Optical Society for her work in photobiology.
• 2018: American Society for Photobiology Lifetime Achievement Award. This award honors a senior researcher whose work has greatly helped the field.
• 2018: SPIE Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award.
• 2018: Society of Asian American Scientists in Cancer Research Award.
• 2017: International Photodynamic Association Award for significant advances in photodynamic therapy.
• 2015: International Photodynamic Association Lifetime Achievement Award in PDT research.
• 2014: Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences & Technology Directors' Award for service.
• 2012: Mentor Award from the National Postdoctoral Association.
• 2010: Science Club for Girls Catalyst Award Honouree for her dedication to equality in science.
• 2009: Harvard Medical School William Silen Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award.
• 2009: National Institutes of Health Pioneers in Biomedical Optics Award.

See also

In Spanish: Tayyaba Hasan para niños