I graduated from the Shahid Beheshti Medical University, Tehran, Iran in 2010 with a Medical degree and focus in conducting epidemiologic and case studies in infectious diseases. After medical school, my curiosity for understanding the biology behind malignancies, my unmet dream during medical school, provided me the impetus to join Irving Weissman and Samuel Cheshier laboratories at Stanford. In Irving Weissman laboratory, my fervor for basic biomedical research was reinvigorated when I started on developing humanized antiCD47 treatment as a safe and effective modality for adult and pediatric brain tumors. My research endeavors established the grounds for bringing a newly designed immunotherapeutic, humanized anti-CD47 antibody, to phase one clinical trial in patients with pediatric and adult brain tumor.
Despite my remarkable experience at Stanford as a postdoctoral fellow to conduct translational studies, I realized a huge demand for new technologies and approaches to fight against cancer. Therefore, I was driven to join Biology and Bioengineering Graduate Program at California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Caltech offers me a unique setting to address this demand through developing novel technology and approaches for treatment of malignancies. Here, my goal is to developing a new immunotherapeutic for brain tumors using single cell technology.
As a physician-scientist, I hope I can apply chemical physics to biological problems and make progress in the fight against cancer. Outside of the lab, I enjoy running, playing and listening to music, studying Turkish and French languages, and developing new ideas for staying creative and dynamic.