Postdoctoral Fellow
MIT
Parisa Yousefpour, PhD
NIH Kirschstein-NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Parisa Yousefpour is currently an NIH Kirschstein-NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow, working with Prof. Darrell Irvine at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT. Her postdoctoral work is centered on developing small-molecule responsive gene circuits for the temporal control of transgene expression in lipid nanoparticle-encapsulated RNA therapeutics for cancer immunotherapy and vaccine development.
She earned her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University and was the recipient of the Howard G. Clark III Fellowship and the Bass Instructional Fellowship. During her Ph.D. studies, under the mentorship of Prof. Ashutosh Chilkoti and with a focus on drug delivery, biopolymers and protein engineering, Parisa developed several albumin-binding drug delivery platforms for treating cancer and diabetes. Previously, she received her integrated BS-MS degree in Biotechnology/Bioprocess Engineering from the University of Tehran in Iran, supported by a National Elite Foundation (NEF) Scholarship. She is committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in research, through mentorship and service activities. She is presently the Undergraduate Relations co-chair for MIT's Graduate First Generation and/or Low Income (GFLI) student association.