Saghi Ghaffari

Saghi Ghaffari, MD, PhD, is Professor of Cell, Developmental & Regenerative Biology and Oncological Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York. She is a member of the Black Family Stem Cell Institute and Tisch Cancer Institute, leads the Ghaffari Lab, and trained in medicine in Paris and doctoral research in Vancouver followed by a clinical-science fellowship at MIT’s Whitehead Institute.

Education:

• MD, Université de Paris XII, Paris, France
• MSc, Université de Paris XII, Paris, France
• PhD, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
• Clinical Scientist, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, MIT

Research Interests:
Dr. Ghaffari’s program decodes mechanisms sustaining healthy blood stem and progenitor cells throughout life, with emphasis on metabolic programs governed by mitochondria and lysosomes. Her group investigates how these processes become derailed during aging and in myeloid malignancies, aiming to improve bone-marrow transplantation and to devise metabolic interventions that restore youthful stem-cell function.

She pursues questions of hematopoietic stem-cell quiescence, erythroid maturation, oxidative stress signaling, and the intersection of FOXO transcription factors with mTOR and autophagy pathways. Collaborative projects extend from single-cell metabolic profiling to pre-clinical models of β-thalassemia and myeloproliferative neoplasms.

Publication Trends 2019-2024:
Recent work highlights mitochondrial control of erythropoiesis, lysosomal rejuvenation of aged hematopoietic stem cells, and the unexpected limitation of p21 deletion in β-thalassemic erythropoiesis. COVID-19-related studies linked mild anemia and red-cell distribution width to mortality, underscoring her breadth from basic metabolism to population health.

Scientific Honors & Awards:

• American Society of Hematology Bridge Grant Award (2015)
• MPN Foundation New Investigator Award (2011)
• Roche Foundation for Anemia Research Award (2008)
• Irma Hirschl/Weill-Caulier Trust Research Award (2008)
• NIH Clinician Scientist Career Award – NCI (1998)
• American Cancer Society Research Scholar (1998)
• Terry Fox Physician-Scientist Fellowship, NCIC (1991)

Funding & Collaborations:
Her laboratory is supported by multiple NIH and foundation grants and maintains active collaborations across Mount Sinai and external institutions. Projects are open to PhD and MD/PhD trainees, with emphasis on interdisciplinary training in stem-cell metabolism, advanced imaging, and translational hematology.

Lab & Teams:
The Ghaffari Lab (https://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/ghaffarilab) resides on the 13th floor of the Icahn (East) Building, providing state-of-the-art facilities for metabolic flux analysis, single-cell transcriptomics, and in vivo transplantation assays. The group participates in the Cancer Biology and Development, Regeneration & Stem Cells multi-disciplinary training areas at Mount Sinai.