Aligarh: Dr Shaista Afroz, Associate Professor of Department of Prosthodontics in Dr ZA Dental College has made the university proud with her research achievement. Her findings published in a research paper show that the increased glial activity in the central nervous system contributes to hyperalgesia and that glial inhibition can be considered for its management.

Her paper, 'CGRP Induces Differential Regulation of Cytokines from Satellite Glial Cells in Trigeminal Ganglia and Orofacial Nociception' has received the 'International Journal of Molecular Science 2021 Best Paper Award'.

"Dr Shaista's paper, published under the guidance of Prof. Yoshizo Matsuka of Japan’s Tokushima University has been awarded on the basis of scientific merit, broad impact, relevance to the journal's field, originality of the research objectives and the ideas presented, the creativity of the study design or uniqueness of the approaches and concepts, clarity of presentation and citation and download rates in 2020," stated the official email from Yomi Sun of International Journal of Molecular Science Branch Office in Wuhan.

The conclusion of her paper, which came out with cautious experimental procedures done at the Tokushima University with the use of laboratory rats for drug administration and behavioural assessment under controlled conditions was supported by the Ministry of Education Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

According to Dr Shaista, "the course of action involved use of anaesthesia, Intra-Ganglionic drug administration, behavioural assessment, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, cytokine measurement and statistical analysis."

"The finding is a unique and exemplary contribution to the field. The university stands proud that our faculty member brought a big achievement," said AMU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tariq Mansoor.

Dr Shaista has over 17 publications in peer-reviewed journals. She has a Doctorate of philosophy from the Tokushima University, Japan, Graduate School of Health Biosciences; a Master of Dental Surgery from King George Medical University, Department of Prosthodontics, Lucknow and a Bachelor of Dental Surgery, ZADC, AMU.