معرفی
Mehdi Damaghi, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at the Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, and a faculty member at the Stony Brook Cancer Center. His research focuses on understanding cancer through ecological-evolutionary principles, with particular emphasis on breast and ovarian cancers.
Dr. Damaghi received his BSc in Cell & Molecular Biology-Genetics from Chamran University in Iran (1998-2002), his MSc in Biochemistry from Tarbiat Modares University in Iran (2002-2005), and his PhD in Cell Biology and Genetics from the Max Planck Institute in Dresden, Germany (2008-2012). He completed postdoctoral training at the Moffitt Cancer Center (2012-2017) and served as a Research Scientist (2017-2021) and Instructor (2021) there before joining Stony Brook University.
Dr. Damaghi's research applies ecological and evolutionary principles to understand cancer initiation, progression, and metastasis. His lab investigates how tumor cells adapt to variable microenvironments, leading to metabolic reprogramming linked to epigenetics and transcription factors. He studies the interplay between tumor cells and their microenvironment, which drives genotypic heterogeneity and phenotypic plasticity. His work integrates single-cell multi-omics approaches (genome, epigenome, transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome) with pathomics analysis to capture cancer cell heterogeneity in their natural context.
An analysis of Dr. Damaghi's recent publications reveals a strong focus on cancer metabolism, particularly how tumor acidosis and hypoxia influence cancer progression and treatment resistance. His work bridges evolutionary biology with cancer research, examining how selective pressures in the tumor microenvironment drive adaptive changes in cancer cells. Key themes include metabolic reprogramming, lysosomal function in acidic environments, and the application of ecological principles to improve cancer treatment strategies, especially for breast and ovarian cancers.
- NIH/NCI U01CA261841-01 as PI: "Ecology and Evolution of Breast Cancer" (2021-2026)
- NIH/NCI R01CA249016-01 as Co-PI: "Radiomics and Pathomics to Predict Progress of DCIS Lesion" (2021-2026)
Dr. Damaghi actively mentors students and researchers, with openings available for MSc, PhD, MD/PhD, and postdoctoral positions in his lab. His lab, the Damaghi Research Lab, focuses on four main projects: 1) Ecology and Evolution of Breast Carcinogenesis, 2) Metabolic phenotypes in DCIS to stratify disease progression, 3) Co-evolution of tumor and stroma in breast cancer, and 4) Evolution of resistant phenotype to PARPi in ovarian cancer.
