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Dr. Gurleen Kour
Scientist-D
Pharmacology Division
CSIR – Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine,Canal Road, Jammu – 180001
Email: gurleenkour[dot]iiim[at]csir[dot]res[dot]in
Bio Sketch
Dr. Kour is currently working in the areas of inflammatory and metabolic disorders with the focus to explore the role of natural compounds and their derivatives in chronic inflammation associated with Rheumatoid arthritis and in endocrinology (PMOS). In the area of pharmacology she has explored the combination of natural anti-inflammatory agents with first-line disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARDs). Her present research focuses on the combination of standard DMARDs with phytochemicals that have shown synergistic therapeutic effects while decreasing the toxic repercussions of current RA therapy. Furthermore, she has also worked on the preclinical drug development including the in vitro and in vivo assessment of ADME and pharmacokinetic properties for lead selection and lead optimization.
Education
| Degree | Subjects | University | Qualifying Year |
| Ph.D | Biological Sciences | CSIR- Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine | 2018 |
| B. Tech | Industrial Biotechnology | Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University | 2012 |
Position Held
| Position Held | Period | Organization |
| Scientist-D | 2026 to Present | CSIR-IIIM, Jammu |
| Scientist-C | 2022 to 2026 | CSIR-IIIM, Jammu |
Area of Expertise
- Screening of natural compounds and derivatives for anti-inflammatory, anti-rheumatic potential.
- In vitro cell-based screening of compounds for anti-inflammatory potential using RAW 264.7 and SW982 cells and understanding their role in osteoclastogenesis and bone resortption.
- Pre-clinical in-vivo drug mechanistic studies in LPS-induced systemic inflammation model and collagen induced arthritis mice model.
- Drug-drug interaction including CYP450 inhibition profiling.
- In vivo pharmacokinetic analysis and bioavailability.
Projects
- Exploring the chemistry and anti-inflammatory potential of Tabernaemontana divaricata and Erythrina suberosa
- Mechanism based approach comprising concomitant administration of a natural JAK/STAT inhibitor with leflunomide (DMARD) for the management of adverse drug reactions and improved efficacy in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. (DST)
- Isolation, Pharmacopeial Standardization and Immunomodulatory activity of Unani drug Habb-e-suranjan and Habbe-e-Asgand. (CCRAS)
- Pre-IND enabling studies on Adhatoda vasica extracts for treatment of pulmonary fibrosis through hypoxia response modulation. (CSIR)
- Investigation on the anti-obesity activity of Argyreia Nervosa, Garcinia Species. (DBT)
Publications
| Authors | Title | Journal |
|
Rohit Singh, Sweta, Harshad B. Bhore, Chirag Kumar Chourasia, Yogesh P. Bharitkar, Sachin Kumar, Gurleen Kour, Unnatti Sharma, Ravindra S. Phatake |
Stereodivergent double Thia-Michael diversification of parthenin enables reduced cytotoxicity with retained anti-inflammatory activity |
Bioorganic Chemistry Volume 180, 15, 110078 2026 |
| Sobia Anjum, Tazeem Akram, Unnatti Sharma, Omesh Manhas, Jasha Momo H. Anal, Gurleen Kour, Zabeer Ahmed. | The multifaceted role of acetamide derivative of chalcone: Anti-inflammatory action and impact on osteoclastogenesis, insights on NF-κB and MAPK pathway |
Cytokine 205, 157185, 2026 |
| Rupali Choudhary, Sweta, Jasha Momo H. Anal, Boobalan Gopu, Ramajayan Pandian, Bhavna Vij, Asha Bhagat , Gurleen Kour*, Zabeer Ahmed*. | An indole derivative of Ursolic acid, inhibits RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation via modulating the Nrf2 and NFATc1/c-Fos axis: Targeting oxidative stress and osteoclastogenesis in managing rheumatoid arthritis. |
Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy 193:118801. 2025 |
|
Manas Ranjan Barik , Mushtaq Ahmad Wani, Sweta, Gurleen Kour*, Zabeer Ahmed*, Amit Nargotra* |
Integrating in silico and in vitro approaches for identifying potential TNF-α inhibitors. |
International Journal of Biological Macromolecules Sep;322(Pt 1):146634 2025 |
|
Rupali Choudhary, Puneet Kumar, Jasha Momo H. Anal , Sanket K Shukla , Asha Bhagat, Gurleen Kour*, Zabeer Ahmed*. |
Synthesis and potential anti-inflammatory response of indole and amide derivatives of ursolic acid in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells and systemic inflammation mice model: Insights into iNOS, COX2 and NF-κB. |
Bioorganic Chemistry 155:108091 2025 |
| Choudhary R, Saroch D, Kumar D, Anjum S, Andrabi NI, Akram T, Shah BA, Shukla SK, Bhagat A, Kour G, Ahmed Z. |
Anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic potential of methotrexate in combination with BA-25, an amino analogue of β-boswellic acid in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. |
Cytokine. 2023 Dec;172:156398 |
| Iqbal Andrabi N, Sarkar AR, Assim Haq S, Kumar D, Kour D, Saroch D, Kumar Shukla S, Kumar A, Bhagat A, Ali A, Kour G, Ahmed Z. |
Site-selective synthesis and pharmacological elucidation of novel semi-synthetic analogues of koenimbine as a potential anti-inflammatory agent. |
Int Immunopharmacol. 2024 Jan 5;126:111059 |
| Kour G, Kumar A, Chibber P, Saroch D, Kumar C, Ahmed Z. |
Novel alantolactone derivative AL-04 exhibits potential anti-inflammatory activity via modulation of iNOS, COX-2 and NF-κB. |
Cytokine. 2022 Oct;158:155978 |
| Kour G, Haq SA, Bajaj BK, Gupta PN, Ahmed Z. |
Phytochemical add-on therapy to DMARDs therapy in rheumatoid arthritis: In vitro and in vivo bases, clinical evidence and future trends. |
Pharmacological Research. 2021,169:105618. |
| Kour G, Choudhary R, Anjum S, Bhagat A, Bajaj BK, Ahmed Z. |
Phytochemicals targeting JAK/STAT pathway in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: Is there a future? |
Biochemical Pharmacology. 2022, 197:114929. |
| Kour G, Singh PP, Bhagat A, Ahmed Z. |
Biopharmaceutic parameters, pharmacokinetics, transport and CYP mediated drug interactions of IIIM-017: A novel nitroimidazooxazole analogue with anti-tuberculosis activity. |
European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 2017; 106: 71–78. |
| Kour G, Kumar A,Chibber P, Saroch D, Kumar C, Ahmed Z. |
Novel alantolactone derivative AL-04 exhibits potential anti-inflammatory activity via modulation of iNOS, COX-2 and NF-κB. |
Cytokine 2022; 31;158:155978 |
| Kour G, Chandan BK, Khullar M, Munagala G, Singh PP, Bhagat A, Gupta AP, Vishwakarma RA, Ahmed Z. |
Development and validation of a highly sensitive LCMS/MS-ESI method for quantification of IIIM-019-A novel nitroimidazole derivative with promising action against Tuberculosis: Application to drug development. |
Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis. 2016; 124: 26-33. |
| Kour G, Kumar A, Singh PP, Sharma S, Bhagat A, Vishwakarma RA, Ahmed Z. |
Preclinical comprehensive physicochemical and pharmacokinetic profiling of novel nitroimidazole derivative IIIM-019 – A potential oral treatment for tuberculosis. . |
Pulmonary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. 2016; 40: 44-51.
|
|
Kour G, Haq SA, Ahmed Z, Gupta P.N. |
BookChapter title: Novel delivery systems for natural products in improved therapy of rheumatoid arthritis. Book title: Role and application of novel drug delivery system for phytoconstituents. |
CRC Press, 2022 |
| Yempalla KR, Munagala G, Singh S, Kour G, Sharma S, Chib R, Kumar S, Wazir P, Singh GD, Raina S, Bharate SS, Khan IA, Vishwakarma RA, Singh PP. |
Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Polar Functionalities Containing Nitrodihydroimidazooxazoles as Anti-TB Agents. |
ACS Med. Chem. Lett. 2015; 6 (10): 1059-64. |
Patents
| Inventors/Contributors | Title | Description | Year |
| Qazi Naveed Ahmed, Ashiq Hussain Padder, Sajjad Ahmed, Zoya Shafeeq, Mohammad Yaqoob Bhat, Jagdish Chand, Mohmmad Saleem Dar, Yashi Garg, Feroze Hussain, Anindya Goswami, Mohd Jamal Dar, Zabeer Ahmed, Gousia Chahsoo, Samriti Dogra, Ramajayan Pandian, Mahir Bhardwaj, Gurleen Kour | PHOSPHORUS-CONTAINING RUCAPARIB AS PARP INHIBITOR | Country: India | 2025 |
Awards and Honours
- Associate Member of the Society of Inflammation Research, India.
- Post-Doctorate Fellowship by the Department of Biotechnology Research Associate (DBT-RA) program in Biotechnology and Life Sciences, Govt. of India (2019)
- Senior Research Fellowship (GATE-SRF) from Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), GOI (2014-2017)
- Junior Research Fellowship (GATE-JRF) from Council of Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR), GOI, 2012-2014
- Qualified Jammu and Kashmir State Eligibility Test (JK SET/SLET) in Life Sciences
- Qualified All-India Level Examination, Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) in Biotechnology.
- Speaker at International conference: 4th Annual Congress on Drug Discovery & Designing, Bangkok, Thailand, July 03-04, 2017.
- Second Prize in Poster presentation,Indo-US Symposium on Botanical Drug development, Medanta-The Medicity, Gurgaon, India, December 13-14th, 2013.
Students
| Photo | Name | Area of Interest | Position |
 |
Tazeem Akram | Evaluation of the Anti-Inflammatory and anti-arthritic potential of Dispiro-acenapthoquinone analogue of Parthenin. | CSIR-SRF |
 |
Sweta | Working on investigation of anti-inflammatory potential of natural products and their derivatives. | CSIR-SRF |
 |
Surekha Kundal | Evaluation of the therapeutic potential of bioactive phytochemicals in Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS), focusing on inflammatory signaling pathways, cellular oxidative stress, and endocrine homeostasis using in vitro and in-vivo models. | CSIR-JRF |
 |
Tanu Jatrana | Investigation of bioactive phytochemicals in mitigating steroidogenic dysregulation in Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian syndrome (PMOS). | CSIR-JRF |
 |
Unnatti Sharma | Evaluating the anti-arthritic potential of conventional DMARDs versus combination therapy in the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis. | Ph.D Scholar |
