Draft:Irfan Rahman (Researcher/Scientist)



Irfan Rahman (born in Bhopal, India) is an American environmental health and disease researcher and Dean's Professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center in upstate New York. He is also the director of the Center for Flavoring Toxicology. Irfan is widely known for his inventions and research in Pulmonary Toxicology and Lung Diseases.

Early Life and Education
Irfan Rahman was born in the city of Bhopal, India. During the Bhopal disaster, he was in his late teens when a pipeline at a Bhopal-based Union Carbide Corp. affiliate leaked, releasing a cloud of toxic gas leading to many deaths and life-long injuries including lung ailments. Irfan holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry on neutrophil functions in hypertension. He carried out his early education at Rabbani High School, St Francis de Sales College, and Nagpur University, Nagpur (India). He completed a postdoctoral fellowship on lung toxicology at the University of Miami and Georgetown University., before relocating to the University of Edinburgh, where he focused on environmental agents and lung inflammation and received an appointment as a Senior Research Scientist/Lecturer.

Career
Irfan is a Dean’s Professor at the Department of Environmental Medicine, Medicine (Pulmonary), University of Rochester Medical Center, USA; Public Health Sciences and General Dentistry at the University of Rochester Medical Center (School of Medicine and Dentistry), NY. He works extensively on understanding mechanisms affecting lung function and pathology in various respiratory diseases by external factors, such as environmental smoke and air pollution. Irfan primarily focuses on research regarding oxidative stress, inflammation, molecular clock, mitochondrial dysfunction, epigenetics, and cellular senescence by environmental tobacco smoke/tobacco products (cigarette smoke, e-cigarettes, flavoring chemicals in e-cigarettes, waterpipe/hookah, iQOS, CBD/THC, and cigars), airborne particulate matter, ozone, carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles and PFOS/PFAS Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid/perfluorinated alkylated substances, also called perfluorochemicals (PFCs) in the lung (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis/Interstitial Lung Diseases), as well as oral/periodontal diseases. His major research emphasis and focus have been on understanding the pathophysiology of chronic inflammatory lung diseases particularly Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)/emphysema, lung cancer, and pulmonary fibrosis. His major research emphasis and focus have been on understanding the pathophysiology of chronic inflammatory lung diseases particularly Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)/emphysema, lung cancer, and pulmonary fibrosis which is imposed by cigarette smoke/e-cigarettes/hookah or waterpipe tobacco smoke, and environmental air pollution. Irfan has gained international recognition for his research on the prevention and treatment of smoking-induced lung diseases and has published more than 350 papers/articles in peer-reviewed journals with more than 50,000 citations along with an impact factor of more than H=105. Irfan has several patents on his remarkable discoveries and findings, e.g., patents on biomarkers for identifying e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury, and methods of treating chronic inflammatory diseases. Irfan has several patents on his remarkable discoveries and findings, e.g. patents on biomarkers for identifying e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury, and Methods of Treating chronic inflammatory diseases. Irfan Rahman has been featured in several interviews and publications over the years, including CBS News, NBC News, Forbes, and Hindustan Times, to name a few. ==Publications == Irfan Rahman has over 300 hundred publications and several book chapters to his name. His research was published in several peer-reviewed journals..

Irfan Rahman’s work has been indexed by Google Scholars.

Books(s)
•	2013 – Inflammation, Advancing Age and Nutrition

Awards
With the American Thoracic Society (ATS), he has served as a program committee member and as chair for numerous symposia sessions on lung disease research, chair of the Lung Aging working group of the RCMB-ATS, and the past-President of Inhalation and Respiratory Specialty Section of the Society of Toxicology (SOT). He has been designated as a Fellow of the ATS. Through community education efforts, Irfan has also educated people about the dangers of smoking. Vaping, and other exposures in India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 2022, Irfan Rahman received an American Thoracic Society Recognition Award for Scientific Accomplishments. He has been conferred with the 2023 SOT leading edge in basic science award recognizing for his contributions to pulmonary toxicology and specifically how e-cig and cigarette smoke cause lung injury and disease. Irfan has also been awarded a Senior Toxicologist Award by the SOT - Associations of Scientists of Indian Origin. The award was presented to Dr. Irfan in the presence of several SOT meeting attendees, as well as several NIEHS officials. He received the award at the SOT 56th Annual Meeting and ToxExpo in Baltimore, MD, on Mar 13, 2017. Irfan received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the "National Conference (NCSCA-2019)" 11th National Conference on Solid State Chemistry and Allied Areas (NCSCA-2019), Nagpur, India. He was the recipient of a career achievement award from the IRSS SOT in 2013 in Inhalation Toxicology. He received an Outstanding Senior Investigator Award (2006) given to him by the Oxygen Society, Santa Barbara, CA.

Notable Articles and Interviews
Smoking May Compromise Immune Health, Even Years After Quitting - Scientific American

Can Nicotine Pouches Like Zyn Harm Your Health? - New York Times

ZYN Pouches Are Gaining Popularity—How Do They Compare to Smoking and Vaping? - Health

Study: Marijuana Users Found to Have Higher Levels of Toxic Metals In Blood and Urine - Health

What Makes Us Tick: Smoking’s Effect on Our Biological Clock - National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences

Why Are Zyn Nicotine Pouches Suddenly Everywhere? - GQ Magazine

Circadian clock molecule REV-ERBα regulates lung fibrotic progression through collagen stabilization - Nature Communications

Vaping’s respiratory effects traced by leading basic researcher - Environmental Factor Your Online Source for NIEHS News

Your Guide To CBD Vaping: Safety, Side Effects And More - Forbes Magazine

Dr. Irfan Rahman - A Pioneer in Pulmonary Toxicology and Lung Diseases

Dr. Irfan Rehman — How A First-Hand Witness of The Bhopal Gas Tragedy and Climate Change Are Revolutionizing Toxicology and Human Health Effects