Education

Academic Foundation & Skills.

Charting the Path of My Educational Journey

01

University of Houston

Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Organic Chemistry

2018 - Dec 2023

  • Dissertation title: Optimization of Receptor-Interacting Protein Kinase 2 (RIPK2) Inhibitors and Development of Mixed Lineage Kinase Domain-Like (MLKL) Activators

  • Designed and optimized a series of RIPK2 inhibitors, focusing on enhancing brain permeability and cellular potency to target neuroinflammatory conditions. Despite challenges in balancing brain permeability and cellular activity, the project successfully produced an inhibitor with improved in vivo characteristics and efficacy in the experimental encephalomyelitis model of multiple sclerosis.

  • Spearheaded the development of the first small-molecule activator of MLKL pseudokinase, a key effector in necroptosis. Optimized the lead compound to enhance selectivity, potency, and binding affinity while eliminating off-target activity. This led to the development of an activator with significantly improved necroptotic activity and binding affinity, marking a crucial step toward potential therapeutic applications.

02

UMass Boston

Bachelor of Science - BS, Biochemistry

Aug 2015 - May 2018 | GPA: 3.97/4.00

  • Activities and societies: Tau Sigma, Golden Key International Honor Society Activities and societies: Tau Sigma, Golden Key International Honor Society

  • Graduated with Honor and Summa Cum Laude
    Received the Highest Distinction in Biochemistry

    Research: Investigated the role of Mass Spectrometry (MS) in Proteomics.
    Thesis Title: Evaluating MS Strategies for Relative Protein Quantification using Nanoflow Reversed
    Phased HPLC-Tandem Mass Spectrometry.Graduated with Honor and Summa Cum Laude Received the Highest Distinction in Biochemistry Research: Investigated the role of Mass Spectrometry (MS) in Proteomics. Thesis Title: Evaluating MS Strategies for Relative Protein Quantification using Nanoflow Reversed Phased HPLC-Tandem Mass Spectrometry.

Communication

Linguistic Proficiency.


English

  • Full professional proficiency

Farsi/Persian

  • Native / bilingual proficiency

Affiliation

Organizations

American Chemical Society

  • Jan 2015 - Present

01

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

  • Jan 2015 - Present

02

Skills and Expertise

Core Competencies

1. Analytical Techniques

  • Flash Chromatography

  • Gas Chromatography

  • High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)

  • Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS)

  • Mass Spectrometry

  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)

  • Column Chromatography

2. Synthetic and Medicinal Chemistry

  • Multistep Synthesis

  • Synthetic Organic Chemistry

  • Medicinal Chemistry

  • Small Molecule Drug Discovery

  • Structure-Based Drug Design

  • Docking and Molecular Modeling

  • Homology Modeling

  • Total Synthesis

  • Drug Design

  • Process Chemistry

  • Optimization Strategies

3. Computational and Virtual Screening

  • Molecular Modeling

  • High-Throughput Virtual Screening

  • Structure-Based Virtual Screening

  • Ligand-Based Virtual Screening

  • Screening Analysis

4. Collaboration and Leadership

  • Cross-team Collaboration

  • Interdisciplinary Collaboration

  • Teamwork

  • Leadership

  • Team Management

  • Communication

5. Mentoring and Teaching

  • Peer Mentoring

  • Mentoring

  • Teaching

6. Technical and Laboratory Skills

  • Data Analysis

  • Scientific Data Analysis

  • Laboratory Skills

  • Purification Techniques

7. Software and Specialized Tools

  • ChemDraw

  • Autodock

  • Pymol

  • Modeller

  • GC-MS