معرفی
Elham Azizi is the Herbert & Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Cancer Data Research at Columbia University’s Irving Institute for Cancer Dynamics and an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. She is further affiliated with the Department of Computer Science, the Data Science Institute, and the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Education
- BSc, Electrical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, 2008
- MSc, Electrical Engineering, Boston University, 2010
- PhD, Bioinformatics, Boston University, 2014
Research Interests
Azizi’s multidisciplinary program integrates advanced machine learning, probabilistic modeling and high-resolution single-cell genomics to decode the complexity of the tumor microenvironment. Her team develops novel Bayesian and deep generative frameworks to analyze spatial transcriptomics, time-series single-cell data and multi-modal clinical specimens, aiming to uncover principles of tumor–immune interactions and to guide precision cancer immunotherapies.
Key research areas include computational biology, machine learning, genomics, cancer biology and cancer immunology. Specific emphases are single-cell RNA-seq deconvolution, causal discovery in cellular networks, spatially resolved transcriptomics, and modeling cellular plasticity and therapeutic resistance.
Scientific Awards
- Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science, 2025
- Early-Career Innovator in Science Award (Cancer Immunology), Takeda/NYAS, 2024
- Allen Distinguished Investigator Award, Allen Institute, 2023
- Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Science Diversity Leadership Award, 2022
- NSF CAREER Award, 2022
- NHGRI R01 Early Career Award, 2023
- Tri-Institutional Breakout Prize for Junior Investigators, 2019
- NIH NCI K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, 2018
Advising & Funding
Azizi mentors a diverse group of graduate students and postdocs whose work has been recognized with awards such as the Yuen-huo Hung and Chao-chin Huang Graduate Award, NSF Graduate Research Fellowships, and NCI T32 postdoctoral fellowships. Her laboratory is supported by multiple NIH grants (NHGRI, NCI), an NSF CAREER Award, and funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Allen Institute.
Laboratory & Collaborations
The Azizi Lab—formally the Computational Cancer Biology Laboratory—operates at the intersection of Biomedical Engineering, Cancer Dynamics, Computer Science and the Data Science Institute. Collaborative partnerships span Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the Pe’er, Izar, Wu, Reshef, Stockwell and McFaline-Figueroa laboratories, among others.
