Dr Saqlain Suleman

Saqlain's work focuses on improving gene therapy products through the R&D pipeline including improving viral vector production, purification, and gene transfer, as well as assessing the genotoxicity of viral vectors using a human based induced pluripotent stem cell-based model.

His research combines molecular biology, cell culture, viral vector technologies and next-generation sequencing to better understand the safety and performance of gene therapy products. He's particularly interested in translating innovative research into practical solutions that support the development of safer and more accessible advanced therapies, working closely with academic and industry collaborators.

• Gene therapy
• Cell biology
• Cancer
• Bioinformatics
• Viral vectors
• Induced pluripotent stem cells

Saqlain is open to discussing potential MSc and PhD projects in the area of cell and gene therapy.

• BSc Biomedical Science
• Core Biology (Module Lead)
• MSc Applied Bioscience
• Molecular Genentics and Advanced Bioinformatics

• PhD Cell Biology
• BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences

• Fellow of Advance HE (FHEA)
• Member, British Society of Gene and Cell Therapy
• Member, European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy
• Member, Royal Society of Biology
• Member, Adelphi Institute

Saqlain has won various awards from both research grants and commercially sponsored work as principal investigator for the development of next generation gene and cell therapies. These awards have come from sources including Innovate UK, British Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, TestAVec, and N4Pharma.

Ramchunder, Z., Kalef-Ezra, E., Suleman, S. et al, 2026. Dysregulation of sphingolipid-metabolizing enzymes in Friedreich’s ataxia: In vitro and in vivo insights into therapeutic targeting. iScience, 29 (7), 116479.

Suleman, S. et al, 2025. ^hInGeTox: a human-based in vitro platform to evaluate lentivirus/host interactions that contribute to genotoxicity. Gene Therapy, 32(6), 641-656.

S Suleman et al, 2025. Transcriptomic Profiling of iPS Cell-Derived Hepatocyte-like Cells Reveals Their Close Similarity to Primary Liver Hepatocytes. Cells, 14(12).

Suleman, S. et al, 2025. Analysis of HIV-1-based lentiviral vector particle composition by PacBio long-read nucleic acid sequencing. Human Gene Therapy, 36(5-6), 628-636.

Suleman, S., Fawaz, S., Roberts, T., Ellison, S., Bigger, B. and Themis, M. (2024) 'Optimised protocols to generate high titre lentiviral vectors using a novel transfection agent enabling extended HEK293T culture following transient transfection and suspension culture', J Virol Methods, 325, 114884. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jviromet.2024.114884. Epub 2024 Jan 11. PMID: 38218417.

Suleman, S., Payne, A., Bowden, J. et al. (2022) 'HIV- 1 lentivirus tethering to the genome is associated with transcription factor binding sites found in genes that favour virus survival', Gene Ther, 29, pp. 720–729. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41434-022-00335-4

Suleman, S., Schrubaji, K., Filippou, C., Ignatova, S., Hewitson, P., Huddleston, J., Karda, R., Waddington, S. N. and Themis, M. (2021) 'Rapid and inexpensive purification of adenovirus vectors using an optimised aqueous two-phase technology', J Virol Methods, 299, 114305. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jviromet.2021.114305. Epub 2021 Oct 6. PMID: 34626684; PMCID: PMC9757833.

Dr Suleman and his researchers have presented widely at local, national and international conferences. These include the British &B European Societies of Gene and Cell Therapy annual conferences and Royal Society workshops.

Dr Suleman has been interviewed on his research work using human induced pluripotent stem cell models to develop safer gene therapy vectors. View on RegMedNet.