Professor
Virginia State University
Dr. Rafat Siddiqui is currently working as Professor and Director of the Nutrition Science and Food Chemistry Laboratory at Virginia State University, Petersburg, Virginia, United States. Dr. Siddiqui earned his BSc and MSc degrees in Biochemistry from the University of Karachi in Karachi, Pakistan. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. Dr. Siddiqui served as a postdoctoral fellow at Massey University in Palmerton North, New Zealand. He immigrated to America in 1989 and worked as a Howard Hughes Research Fellow at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. Dr. Siddiqui began his work as a researcher at Methodist Hospital in 1993 and served as Director of Cellular Biochemistry and Lipid Biology programs from 2000 – 2015. He is an internationally recognized expert of nutrition in many areas, including metabolic syndrome, cancer, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, and neurosciences. He has published over 150 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals and has written several invited review articles, book chapters, commentaries, and editorials on emerging issues. He has been invited as a keynote speaker at several national and international conferences. Dr. Siddiqui’s research has been supported by funding from National Institutes of Health (NCI), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the American Heart Association (AHA), the Showalter Foundation, the Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI, Indiana), and pharmaceutical companies including Baxter and Abbott Laboratories. Dr. Siddiqui's research has been featured on BBC, FOX TV, and WTHR broadcasts, as well as in the Sun, Telegraph, Indianapolis Star newspapers, and several other media outlets. He is on the editorial board of numerous scientific journals. His recent work focuses on the health benefits of grape pomace, green papaya, pomegranate, plums, ginger, berries, and turmeric. At present, Dr. Siddiqui's research interests are in the area of cancer, inflammation, and cardiovascular diseases. His research emphasis is on the synergistic modulation of chronic diseases by a combination of nutrients and drugs.