Dr. Sazia Iftekhar

Peer-Reviewed Scientific Research Articles

1.      S. Sharmeen, I. Kyei, S. Poddar, S. Iftekhar, B.K. Sajeeb, L.M. Graham, D.D. Snow, D.S. Hage, Chromatographic-Based Binding and Thermodynamic Studies of Antibiotic Micropollutants with Humic Acid using Affinity Microcolumns, J. Sep. Sci. 49 (2026) e70345. (Impact Factor: 2.8; Q2 Journal)

2.      S. Sharmeen, I. Kyei, A. Hatch, K. Suh, S. Poddar, S. Iftekhar, D.D. Snow, D.S. Hage, Analysis of Interactions between Pharmaceuticals and Humic Acid: Characterization using Entrapment and High-Performance Affinity Microcolumns, J. Chromatogr. A. 1737 (2024) 465427. (Impact Factor: 4.0; Q1 Journal)

3.      S. Iftekhar, S. Poddar, M. Rauhauser, D.D. Snow, D.S. Hage, Preparation of Entrapment-Based Microcolumns for Analysis of Drug-Humic Acid Interactions by High-Performance Affinity Chromatography, Anal. Chim. Acta 1239 (2023) 340629. (Impact Factor: 6.0; Q1 Journal)

4.      S. Iftekhar, M. Rauhauser, B.D. Hage, D.S. Hage, Determination of Binding Constants by Ultrafast Affinity Extraction: Theoretical and Experimental Studies of Optimum Conditions for Analysis, J. Chromatogr. A. 1707 (2023) 464307. (Impact Factor: 4.0; Q1 Journal)

5.      S. Poddar, A.G. Woolfork, S. Iftekhar, S.T. Ovbude, D.S. Hage, Characterization of Binding by Sulfonylureas with Normal or Modified Human Serum Albumin using Affinity Microcolumns Prepared by Entrapment, J. Chromatogr. B. 1226 (2023) 123798. (Impact Factor: 2.8; Q2 Journal)

6.      S. Iftekhar, Z. Li, P. Tao, S. Poddar, D.S. Hage, Analysis of the Binding of Warfarin to Glyoxal- and Methylglyoxal-Modified Human Serum Albumin by Ultrafast Affinity Extraction, J. Chromatogr. B. 1211 (2022) 123500. (Impact Factor: 2.8; Q2 Journal)

7.      S. Iftekhar, D.S. Hage, Evaluation of Microcolumn Stability in Ultrafast Affinity Extraction for Binding and Rate Studies, J. Chromatogr. B. 1187 (2021) 123047. (Impact Factor: 2.8; Q2 Journal)

Peer-Reviewed Review Articles

1.      E.L. Rodriguez, S. Poddar, S. Iftekhar, K. Suh, A.G. Woolfork, S. Ovbude, A. Pekarek, M. Walters, S. Lott, D.S. Hage, Affinity Chromatography: A Review of Trends and Developments over the Past 50 years, J. Chromatogr. B. 1157 (2020) 122332. (Impact Factor: 2.8; Q2 Journal)

2.      S. Iftekhar, S.T. Ovbude, D.S. Hage, Kinetic Analysis by Affinity Chromatography, Front. Chem. 7 (2019) 673. (Impact Factor: 4.2; Q1 Journal)

Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters

1.      A.G. Woolfork, S. Iftekhar, S. Ovbude, K. Suh, S. Sharmeen, I. Kyei, J. Jones, D.S. Hage, Recent Advances in Supramolecular Affinity Separations : Affinity Chromatography and Related Methods, in: N. Grinberg, P.W. Carr (Eds.), Adv. Chromatogr., 58th ed., CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, 2021: pp. 1–73.

2.      S. Iftekhar, S.T. Ovbude, D.S. Hage, Affinity-Based Methods for the Analysis of Emerging Contaminants in Wastewater and Related Samples, in: M. Kumar, D.D. Snow, R. Honda, S. Mukherjee (Eds.), Contam. Drink. Wastewater Sources, Springer, Singapore, 2021: pp. 37–64.

Selected Conference Presentations

1.      David S. Hage, Saumen Poddar, Sazia Iftekhar, Ashley G. Woolfork, Sadia Sharmeen, Jacob Jones, Madeline Rauhauser, J. Lin, Daniel D. Snow, Mark Wilson, “New Developments in Drug Screening and Binding Studies using High-Performance Affinity Microcolumns and Non-Covalent Entrapment: Biomedical and Environmental Applications”, HPLC 2023, Dusseldorf, Germany, June 2023.

2.      Sazia Iftekhar, Saumen Poddar, Rebecca Ringer, and David S. Hage, “Preparation of Humic Acid Columns for Analysis of Tetracycline-Humic Acid Interactions by High-Performance Affinity Chromatography”, 2021 ACS National Meeting, On-line Meeting, April 2021.

3.      Sazia Iftekhar, Saumen Poddar, Rebecca Ringer and David S. Hage, “Creation of Humic Acid Columns for Analysis of Drug Binding and Bioavailability in Water”, 2021 UNL Spring Research Fair, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, April 2021.

4.      Sazia Iftekhar, Saumen Poddar, Rebecca Ringer, and David S. Hage, “Characterization of Drug-Humic Acid Interactions by High-Performance Affinity Chromatography”, 2021 Nebraska Academy of Sciences Annual Meeting, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, April 2021.

5.      Kyungah Suh, Sazia Iftekhar, Saumen Poddar, Ashley G. Woolfork, Isaac Kyei, Sadia Sharmeen, Susan Ovbude, Jacob Jones, and David S. Hage, “Developments and Detection of Fluorescent Labeled Magnetic Beads for Immunoassay: Detection of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies as a Model”, 2021 Eastern Analytical Virtual Student Symposium, On-line Meeting, September 2021.

6.      Sazia Iftekhar, Kyungah Suh and David S. Hage, “Analysis of Drug-Protein Interactions using Ultrafast Affinity Extraction”, Pittcon Conference and Expo 2020, Chicago, Illinois, USA, March 2020.

7.      Sazia Iftekhar, Kyungah Suh and David S. Hage, “Analysis of Drug-Protein Interactions using Ultrafast Affinity Extraction”, 2020 ACS SciMeetings, On-line Meeting, March 2020.

8.      Sazia Iftekhar, Kyungah Suh and David S. Hage, “Analysis of Drug-Protein Interactions using Ultrafast Affinity Extraction”, 2019 Molecular Mechanism of Disease (MMOD) Annual Symposium, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, April 2019. (Best Graduate Poster Award – 3^rd Place)

9.      Sazia Iftekhar, Kyungah Suh and David S. Hage, “Analysis of Drug-Protein Interactions using Ultrafast Affinity Extraction”, 2019 UNL Spring Research Fair, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, April 2019.

·        2021-2022 Dean’s Fellowship Award, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, 2021

·        Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience (NCMN) Graduate Research Fellowship, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, 2021

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Chemistry                                                                   

Specialization: Analytical Chemistry

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, USA │July 2017 – December 2022  

Master of Science (M.S.) in Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering                                            

University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh │September 2014 – February 2016   

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering                                         

University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh │January 2010 – July 2014    

• Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, North South University, September 2025-Present
• Teaching Assistant, Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA, August 2025-December 2022

Scientist-I, Department of Analytical and Material Science                                           

Sun Chemical Corporation, New Jersey, USA │May 2023 – February 2025

·        Optimized and applied analytical and material characterization techniques to identify defects, contamination, and performance failures in polymer-based inks, coatings, adhesives, and multilayered printed packaging materials

§  Investigated the root cause of adhesion-related failures in multilayered printed and unprinted packaging materials through cross-sectional and surface imaging using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Optical Microscopy

§  Applied Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) Spectroscopy to determine surface composition and identify contamination in inks, adhesives, resins, multilayered substrates, and raw materials to investigate the root cause of performance failure and support quality control

§  Performed semi-quantitative Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis to identify solvents, monomers, and raw materials in uncured ink, varnish, and coating formulations to support batch-to-batch consistency and contamination detection

§  Compared chromatographic profiles of photoinitiators, inhibitors, and oligomers by Reversed-Phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) with UV detection to confirm identity and assess purity

§  Employed chemometric tools such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (AHC) to classify inks and pigments by formulation profiles or specific acid-base free energy to determine the root cause of formulation failure of blue inks

§  Delivered hands-on training to lab technicians and interns on the operation of SEM and ATR–FTIR operation and data interpretation

§  Communicated analytical findings to cross-functional teams and maintained Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) compliance as Safety Coordinator through regular safety inspections

CHE 101: General Chemistry

CHE 201: Biophysical Chemistry

CHE 202L: Bio-Organic Chemistry Lab

CHE 203L: Chemistry of Biomolecules Lab

American Chemical Society (ACS)

1. Development of liquid chromatography and flow-based analytical techniques to study binding interactions between biological systems
2. Scanning electron microscopy and IR spectroscopy-based analysis of defects in food packaging material
3. Chromatographic simulations