Asgher Ali

Welcome to my webpage! I’m delighted to introduce myself – I am Asgher Ali, a dedicated Assistant Professor at the Integrated Sciences and Mathematics Program within the Dhanani School of Science and Engineering, nestled within the vibrant academic landscape of Habib University, Karachi. My intellectual pursuits revolve around the captivating realm of optimal control, specifically as it pertains to continuous models stemming from antibiotic and radiobiological dosing challenges.

With a fervent curiosity for the practical applications of mathematics, I am driven to bridge the gap between theory and real-world impact. The complex landscapes of antibiotic and radiobiological dosing have captivated my attention, propelling me to explore optimal control methodologies that hold the potential to revolutionize healthcare strategies and deepen our understanding of biological systems.

My journey is not confined to the theoretical alone. My explorations encompass a diverse array of interests, ranging from computational mathematics and numerical optimization to the intricacies of nerual network inspired partial differential equation solutions. I find great fulfillment in engaging with modeling and simulations, as well as diving into the depths of parameter estimation and stochastic modeling.

Research interests: computational mathematics, numerical optimization, machine learning for public health, modeling and simulations, optimal control theory, parameter estimation, stochastic modeling.

Let me know if you have an open post doc position on these (or adjacent) topics.

news

Oct 9, 2023	Embracing a new chapter as an Assistant Professor in the Dhanani School of Science and Engineering at Habib University, Karachi.
Sep 12, 2022	Research Seminar on “Effective Antibiotic Dosing in the presence of Resistant Strains 🧬”
Oct 18, 2021	Presented in 8th ICFAS Conference in Antalya, Turkey on “Optimal control applied to class of problems using direct gradient descent method.”

latest posts

Aug 29, 2023	The Art of Estimation, Left vs. Right Endpoint Sums for Area Calculation
Jul 12, 2023	a post with bibliography

selected publications

2022

PLOS ONE

Effective antibiotic dosing in the presence of resistant strains

Asgher Ali, Mudassar Imran, Sultan Sial, and Adnan Khan

PLOS ONE, Oct 2022

Abs

Mathematical models can be very useful in determining efficient and successful antibiotic dosing regimens. In this study, we consider the problem of determining optimal antibiotic dosing when bacteria resistant to antibiotics are present in addition to susceptible bacteria. We consider two different models of resistance acquisition, both involve the horizontal transfer (HGT) of resistant genes from a resistant to a susceptible strain. Modeling studies on HGT and study of optimal antibiotic dosing protocols in the literature, have been mostly focused on transfer of resistant genes via conjugation, with few studies on HGT via transformation. We propose a deterministic ODE based model of resistance acquisition via transformation, followed by a model that takes into account resistance acquisition through conjugation. Using a numerical optimization algorithm to determine the ‘best’ antibiotic dosing strategy. To illustrate our optimization method, we first consider optimal dosing when all the bacteria are susceptible to the antibiotic. We then consider the case where resistant strains are present. We note that constant periodic dosing may not always succeed in eradicating the bacteria while an optimal dosing protocol is successful. We determine the optimal dosing strategy in two different scenarios: one where the total bacterial population is to be minimized, and the next where we want to minimize the bacterial population at the end of the dosing period. We observe that the optimal strategy in the first case involves high initial dosing with dose tapering as time goes on, while in the second case, the optimal dosing strategy is to increase the dosing at the beginning of the dose cycles followed by a possible dose tapering. As a follow up study we intend to look at models where ‘persistent’ bacteria may be present in additional to resistant and susceptible strain and determine the optimal dosing protocols in this case.