Alireza Mashaghi
Alireza Mashaghi is a biophysicist and medical scientist at Leiden University. He is known for his contributions to single-molecule analysis of chaperone assisted protein folding, molecular topology and medical systems biophysics.
Mashaghi made the first observation of direct chaperone involvement during folding of a protein. This work which has been published in Nature solved a long-standing puzzle in biology. In 2017, Mashaghi reported a new model for chaperone DnaK function and made a discovery that, according to Ans Hekkenberg, "overturns the decades-old textbook model of action for a protein that is central for many processes in living cells". He and his co-workers found that chaperone DnaK can recognise natively folded protein parts and stabilise them. Inspired by single-molecule analysis of biopolymers, Mashaghi and his team developed a new topology framework, termed as circuit topology for studying folding of linear chains. Mashaghi also contributed to others areas in biophysics and biotechnology including membrane biophysics and membrane sensing, nanoparticle technology, and organ-on-a-chip technology. In 2020, his team engineered the first chip-based disease model for Ebola hemorrhagic shock syndrome.
Mashaghi is also active in interdisciplinary research in ophthalmology and clinical medicine. In 2017, he and his co-workers at Harvard developed an immunotherapy strategy to improve survival of cornea grafts. The work which gained significant media attention, provides hope for patients with inflamed cornea bed, typically suffering from high graft rejection rates. Together with his co-workers, he contributed to the use of stem cell technology, omics technology, and systems biophysics approaches in ophthalmology. Furthermore, in their research, Alireza Mashaghi and his team are linking statistical physics and medical diagnostics; the new approach allows for early and efficient diagnosis of diseases.
During his academic career, Mashaghi has been affiliated with various institutions including Harvard University, Leiden University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Delft University of Technology, ETH Zurich, Max Planck Institutes, and AMOLF. Mashaghi has published more that 90 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals including several papers in Nature and Nature specialty journals. He worked and co-authored with Cees Dekker, Anthony A. Hyman, Reza Dana, Colin Adams, Donald E. Ingber, Huib Bakker and Petra Schwille. He serves on editorial board of several journals including Nano Research, Scientific Reports, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, and Medicine.
In 2018, Mashaghi has been named as "Discoverer of the Year" by Leiden University. He is the recipient of several awards including an honorarium from American Chemical Society.
