
Hajira Karim
[email protected]Hajira Karim is a third-year international medical student at Istanbul Medipol University, also pursuing a double major in Health Management. During her high school years in Dubai, she actively competed in STEM competitions and completed advanced AP courses in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.
In her first year of medical school, she undertook a ten-week clinical rotation across four top-50 U.S. hospitals, collaborating with American physicians and presenting a research poster at a U.S. conference, supported by Medipol’s International School of Medicine. At Medipol, Hajira works at the Q-Lab within SABITA (Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technologies). She has secured a national TUSEB A1 Research Grant to support her project, “Artificial Intelligence–Assisted Micro-CT Analyses and Data Correlation on Nutrition, Cancer Progression, and Drug Resistance”. As part of the top-10 cohort of her medical class, she also qualified for SRP (BAP-funded) research, under which she investigates the effects of intermittent fasting on Cancer progression and metastasis in mice via chemogenetic stimulation of AgRP neurons.
Hajira was awarded a prestigious, fully funded paid summer research scholarship at the University of Cambridge—a highly competitive honor granted to only two students worldwide. She conducted research at the Institute of Metabolic Science and Cambridge’s School of Clinical Medicine at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, focusing on cutting-edge questions at the intersection of cancer biology, metabolic science, and neuroscience.
Her academic interests span molecular analysis of neurons, cognitive–behavioral studies in animal models, microsurgical techniques, reproductive biology, and electrophysiology. She aims to translate complex scientific insights into practical healthcare solutions. Beyond academia, Hajira serves as an official board member and Next Gen lead for the International Women of Istanbul, and she is an advocate for women’s health—having addressed these issues at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Selected Publications;
Reteplase: A promising alternative in acute ischemic stroke management
Akhtar M, Karim H. Reteplase: A promising alternative in acute ischemic stroke management. Neurosurg Rev. 2024 Jul 31;47(1):379. doi: 10.1007/s10143-024-02642-3. PMID: 39083126.
Influence of the Onset of Menopause on the Risk of Developing Alzheimer's Disease
Briceno Silva G, Arvelaez Pascucci J, Karim H, Kaur G, Olivas Lerma R, Mann AK, Gnanasekaran S, Thomas Garcia KD. Influence of the Onset of Menopause on the Risk of Developing Alzheimer's Disease. Cureus. 2024 Sep 10;16(9):e69124. doi: 10.7759/cureus.69124. PMID: 39262936; PMCID: PMC11387275.
Genetic and Clinical Characterization of Niemann-Pick Disease Type C with Homozygous NPC1 gene mutation: Insights from whole exome sequencing and advanced neuroimaging of two familial cases
Karim H, Oria L, Elmas M. Genetic and Clinical Characterization of Niemann-Pick Disease Type C with Homozygous NPC1 gene mutation: Insights from whole exome sequencing and advanced neuroimaging of two familial cases. JBCGenetics. Online First: 25 Sep, 2024. doi:10.24911/JBCGenetics.183-1718405078
Association between ABO Blood Groups and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: A Case-Control Study
Abdul bari Bener, Zülfiye Kuzu, Hajira Karim, et al. Association between ABO Blood Groups and Risk of Coronary Heart
Disease: A Case-Control Study . Insights Blood Disord. 2025; 4(1): 1-6.

