Muhammad Riaz

Muhammad Riaz is a Research Scientist in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Yale School of Medicine. His research focuses on biomechanical signaling and molecular mechanisms underlying cardiomyopathies, using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for disease modeling and regenerative medicine applications. He leads a genome editing facility utilizing CRISPR-Cas9 and TALEN technologies to study cardiovascular muscle functions, with a focus on developing immunoevasive universal iPSCs for allogeneic tissue repair. Collaborations with Prof. Al Sinusas involve myocardial ischemia and regenerative therapies in preclinical models.

Education includes a PhD from Erasmus University Medical Center (Medical Oncology, 2013), postdoctoral training at Leiden University Medical Center (2016), and advanced work at Yale. Awards include the 2024 American Heart Association CDA Award and the 2017 AFM-Telethon Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Key achievements include engineering functional vascular grafts from human iPSCs, uncovering novel mechano-transduction pathways in cardiomyopathies, and advancing tissue-engineered vascular conduits with antithrombotic properties. His lab (Qyang’s Lab) integrates computational modeling, decellularized scaffolds, and multi-modal imaging to address cardiovascular regeneration challenges.