Sepideh Dolatshahi

Sepideh Dolatshahi, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia (UVA), affiliated with the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Her lab focuses on systems immunology, immunoengineering, and computational biology to address challenges in cancer, infectious diseases, and maternal-neonatal immunity. Contact: sdolatshahi@virginia.edu.

Education:

• Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, Georgia Tech (2015)
• M.S. Bioengineering, Georgia Tech (2013)
• M.S. Electrical Engineering, U. Mass Amherst (2009)
• B.S. Electrical Engineering, University of Tehran (2007)
• Postdoc, Biological Engineering, MIT/MGH (2016–2019)

Research Interests:

• Systems Immunology: Integrating experimental and computational methods to model immune responses.
• Immunoengineering: Designing therapies targeting cancer and infectious diseases.
• Maternal-Placental Immunity: Optimizing prenatal vaccines and antibody transfer mechanisms.
• Computational Biology: Developing models to predict inter-species immune dynamics.

Research Highlights:

• Developing predictive models for placental IgG transfer to improve maternal vaccine strategies.
• Investigating NK cell-T cell collaboration in tumor immunotherapy.
• Examining effects of maternal stress on fetal immunity disparities.

Awards:

• Chambers-Thermo Fisher Scientific Memorial Award (2023), American Association of Immunologists.

Grants & Projects:

• National Institutes of Health R01AI184565: Mechanistic insights into placental antibody transfer kinetics.
• Hypothesis Fund Grant: Maternal stress impact on fetal immunity and health disparities.

Lab Activities:

• Dolatshahi Lab trains engineers and scientists to tackle translational immunology challenges.
• Key collaborations include UVA’s Biomedical Engineering and Immunology programs.