Dr. Bhatti is a clinical neonatologist and a post-doctoral trained basic, translational and clinical investigator. As an independently funded clinician scientist, she committed to improving outcomes of premature infants by understanding how blood vessel development is altered in inflammatory diseases. In particular, the focus of her research program is to elucidate the role of inflammation and surfactant proteins in abnormal blood vessel growth in the retina as it relates to retinopathy of prematurity.
MyNCBI Publications
Fun Fact: "I plan to open a knitting/art cafe (coffee/wine bar) after I decide to retire from medicine."
Academic Section(s):
Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine
Education:
MD - Aga Khan University Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan
Postdoctoral Fellowship-Cell Biology - Georgetown University, Washington DC
Pediatric Residency - Penn State University College of Medicine, Hershey PA
Neonatology Fellowship - Penn State University College, Hershey PA
Board Certification(s):
- Neonatal-Perinatal Sub-Board Certification, American Board of Pediatrics
- Neonatal Resuscitiation Program (NRP) Hospital Based Instructor
- General Pediatrics Certification, American Board of Pediatrics
Clinical/Research Interests:
Dr. Bhatti holds academic appointments in the Department of Pediatrics, Ophthalmology and the Oklahoma Center for Neurosciences. Collaborating with retinal, brain and immune experts, she is an independently funded clinician scientist studying inflammatory vascular biology. Her background and training give her an understanding of both the clinical relevance as well as the methodology needed to scientifically address clinical complications of extreme prematurity.
Dr. Bhatti examines the biological and molecular roles of inflammatory mediators on vascular development, structure and function in both retinal as well as cerebral vascular beds. Simultaneously, she utilizes clinical data on preterm infants to study associations between inflammation, sepsis, growth and retinopathy in premature infants. She is a principal investigator/sub-PI for several clinical trials involving therapeutics and clinical aspects of ROP in the neonatal subjects at OUHSC. She has trained several residents, fellows and students in her lab program, several of whom who gone on to pursue academic fellowships and have contributed to the publications from their research program. Dr. Bhatti is committed to caring for premature babies and finding cures based on sound evidence and science.
Select Honors & Accomplishments:
November 17, 2005: Elected Member Society for Pediatric Research, Society for Pediatric Research (SPR) (Received)
February 22, 2014: Young Faculty Award, Southern Society for Pediatric Research (SSPR) (Received)
July 13, 2013: Competitive Award for Attendance and Travel Award, AAMC Early Women Faculty Professional Development Workshop, American Association of Medical Colleges (Received)
February 22, 2013: Basic Science Young Investigator Award, Southern Society for Pediatric Research (SSPR) (Received)
June 15, 2012: Trainee Mentor Award, Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (Received)
May 6, 2012: ARVO/Alcon Early Career Clinician-Scientist Research Award, The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) (Received)
Select Publications:
- Schafer CM, Gurley JM, Kurylowicz K, Lin PK, Chen W, Elliott MH, Davis GE, Bhatti F, Griffin CT. An inhibitor of endothelial ETS transcription factors promotes physiologic and therapeutic vessel regression. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Oct 20;117(42):26494-26502. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2015980117. Epub 2020 Oct 5. PMID: 33020273; PMCID: PMC7584886.
- Ley D, Hallberg B, Hansen-Pupp I, Dani C, Ramenghi LA, Marlow N, Beardsall K, Bhatti F, Dunger D, Higginson JD, Mahaveer A, Mezu-Ndubuisi OJ, Reynolds P, Giannantonio C, van Weissenbruch M, Barton N, Tocoian A, Hamdani M, Jochim E, Mangili A, Chung JK, Turner MA, Smith LEH, Hellström A; study team. rhIGF-1/rhIGFBP-3 in Preterm Infants: A Phase 2 Randomized Controlled Trial. J Pediatr. 2019 Mar;206:56-65.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2018.10.033. Epub 2018 Nov 22. PMID: 30471715; PMCID: PMC6389415.
- Vieira F, Kung JW, Bhatti F. Structure, genetics and function of the pulmonary associated surfactant proteins A and D: The extra-pulmonary role of these C type lectins. Ann Anat. 2017 May;211:184-201. doi: 10.1016/j.aanat.2017.03.002. Epub 2017 Mar 27. PMID: 28351530; PMCID: PMC5488808.
- Bhatti F, Ball G, Hobbs R, Linens A, Munzar S, Akram R, Barber AJ, Anderson M, Elliott M, Edwards M. Pulmonary surfactant protein a is expressed in mouse retina by Müller cells and impacts neovascularization in oxygen-induced retinopathy. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2014 Nov 18;56(1):232-42. doi: 10.1167/iovs.13-13652. PMID: 25406276; PMCID: PMC4290564.