Hashim Islam, PhD

Assistant Professor

Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, School of Health and Exercise Sciences
Other Titles: Investigator, Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention & Management
Office: ART 154, 1147 Research Road
Email: hashim.islam@ubc.ca

Graduate student supervisor


Research Summary

Islam’s research program focuses on how exercise, nutrition, and cardiometabolic disease impact mitochondrial function in different cells and tissues within the human body.

Courses & Teaching

HES 355 - Clinical Exercise Physiology Applications in Chronic Conditions: Endocrinology and Metabolic Disorders

Biography

I developed a passion for scientific research while completing my undergraduate degree at the University of Lethbridge, motivating me to pursue a master’s degree at Wilfrid Laurier University under the supervision of Professor Tom Hazell. My MSc work focused on energy metabolism at the whole-body level, investigating the impact of exercise on hormones that regulate appetite and food intake. I then completed a PhD under the supervision of Professor Brendon Gurd at Queen’s University, where I studied the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underpin metabolic adaptations to exercise with a focus on mitochondrial remodeling in human skeletal muscle.
Following my PhD, I moved to Kelowna to complete a postdoctoral fellowship with Professor Jonathan Little at UBCO, where I focused on inflammatory processes in the context of type 2 diabetes (T2D). My independent research program within the HES investigates how exercise impacts mitochondrial function in different cells and tissues within the human body, with a focus on muscle-immune cell interactions. I am also interested in how cell- and tissue-specific mitochondrial profiles are altered in response to nutritional interventions (e.g., fasting, dietary supplements) and cardiometabolic conditions like obesity and T2D.

Websites

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hashim-Islam

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=Udc11TAAAAAJ&hl=en

Twitter/X: @hashim90i

Degrees

University of Lethbridge (BSc, 2014)
Wilfrid Laurier University (MSc, 2016)
Queen’s University (PhD, 2020)

Research Interests & Projects

Initial projects within my lab are aimed at addressing the following questions:

  • How are immune cell and skeletal muscle mitochondrial profiles altered in people with obesity & T2D?
  • How does fasting – with or without exercise – impact the mitochondrial profiles of immune cells?
  • How do different exercise protocols impact immune cell bioenergetics?
  • Can dietary supplements targeting the mitochondria boost metabolic adaptations to exercise training and/or rescue mitochondrial defects in clinical populations?

Selected Publications & Presentations

PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=islam+hashim&sort=date

Professional Services/Affiliations/Committees

Investigator, Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention & Management

 

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