Dr. Saima Usman is a molecular oncologist and oral pathology expert with a PhD and postdoctoral training from Queen Mary University of London, UK. She serves as Assistant Professor at the National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS), Pakistan, and is Director of Research at FRIS Charity UK. Her research focuses on epithelial cancers, cancer stem cells, vimentin intermediate filaments, and saliva-based non-invasive diagnostics, with over 20 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals such as eLife, Cells, and Cancers. Internationally recognized for her work on the C328S mutant vimentin and its role in breast cancer aggressiveness, she combines clinical practice with translational oncology research. Dr. Usman has supervised postgraduate projects on biomarkers in oral squamous cell carcinoma, secured competitive research funding, and actively collaborates with teams in the UK, USA, KSA, and UAE. She played a key role in establishing ‘Friends Researchers in the Indian Subcontinent’, a charity designed to encourage and support collaboration between the researchers of UK/EU and those based in the Indian subcontinent. She is the ‘Director of Research’ at this organization. She is also the Managing Editor of FRIS Horizons, a magazine which supports researchers from the South Asian subcontinent in building global collaborations.
