La Jolla scientist gets a spot in Marquis Who’s Who

Nawab John Dar, a postdoctoral scientist at La Jolla’s Salk Institute for Biological Studies, has been selected for the Marquis Who’s Who in America list for his contributions to neuroscience.

Marquis Who’s Who provides an online database with more than 1.6 million biographies from its publications such as Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World, featuring people in government, business, science, technology, law, medicine, the arts, entertainment and sports. It is intended as an accurate source of biographical information that can be referenced by subscription by “librarians, students, researchers, corporate executives, journalists, personnel recruiters and many others,” according to Marquis Who’s Who. Those included are selected because their “accomplishments were found to be of significant reference value.”

Founder Albert Nelson Marquis published the first edition of Who’s Who in America in 1899.

Dar, who has a longtime passion for unraveling the intricacies of the human brain, has worked to advance understanding of neurodegenerative disorders, with a particular focus on Alzheimer’s disease.

After graduating from the CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine in India, Dar embarked on a research journey focused on exploring the neuro-protective potential of certain withanolides (a group of active compounds).

He joined the Salk Institute in May 2022 in a group led by professor Pamela Maher. Together, they started to investigate the role in Alzheimer’s disease of oxytosis (cell death due to depletion of a certain amino acid) and ferroptosis (cell death from certain anti-cancer drugs). Ultimately, their goal is to identify targets for effective therapies against Alzheimer’s.

Dar said he got an email from Marquis Who’s Who “asking if I would be interested and would be willing to be interviewed. They told me right away that just because I was interviewed did not mean I would be included. But they interviewed me for 50 minutes because they wanted to know everything about me. Most of the interview was about the science, which I could talk about all day. Then they told me I was in.”

“I’m happy with what they did,” he said.

Dar said the recognition is “a good feeling, especially for something that is not science-specific. ... It means a lot. I was happy they asked me [to be included] because that is not something I would seek out on my own.”

Dar said he believes his inclusion provides something positive for future generations.

“There are a lot of failures in science; you don’t come up with a new drug or make a new discovery every day,” he said. “To have my biography listed means future scientists can read it and be encouraged that they are on the right path and that they can keep doing what they’re doing, failures and all, and contribute things to science.

“To have a database like this … is really great. It’s an honor to be included.” ◆