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PUBLICATIONS

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."

- Marie Curie -

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Dr. Fattahi's PubMed

2024

​Distinct differentiation trajectories leave lasting impacts on gene regulation and function of V2a interneurons

Elder NH, Majd A, Bulger EA, Samuel RM, Zholudeva LV, McDevitt TC, Fattahi F. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2024 Dec 6:2024.12.03.626573. doi: 10.1101/2024.12.03.626573. PMID: 39677634; PMCID: PMC11642877.

Differentiation of Enteric Nervous System Lineages from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
Majd H, Richter MN, Samuel RM, Kalantari A, Ramirez JT, Fattahi F. J Vis Exp. 2024 May 17;(207). doi: 10.3791/66133. PMID: 38829111

 

A call for a unified and multimodal definition of cellular identity in the enteric nervous system.
Majd H, Cesiulis A, Samuel RM, Richter MN, Elder N, Guyer RA, Hao MM, Stamp LA, Goldstein AM, Fattahi F. bioRxiv. 2024 Jan 16:2024.01.15.575794. doi: 10.1101/2024.01.15.575794. Preprint.

2023

Combined GWAS and single cell transcriptomics uncover the underlying genes and cell types in disorders of gut-brain interaction.

Majd A, Richter MN, Samuel RM, Cesiulis A, Ghazizadeh Z, Wang J, Fattahi F. medRxiv. 2023 Jun 5:2023.06.02.23290906. doi: 10.1101/2023.06.02.23290906. Preprint.

Modeling enteric glia development, physiology and disease using human pluripotent stem cells.

Scantlen MD, Majd H, Fattahi F. Neurosci Lett. 2023 Aug 10;811:137334. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2023.137334. Epub 2023 Jun 12.

Deriving Schwann cells from hPSCs enables disease modeling and drug discovery for diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

Majd H, Amin S, Ghazizadeh Z, Cesiulis A, Arroyo E, Lankford K, Majd A, Farahvashi S, Chemel AK, Okoye M, Scantlen MD, Tchieu J, Calder EL, Le Rouzic V, Shibata B, Arab A, Goodarzi H, Pasternak G, Kocsis JD, Chen S, Studer L, Fattahi F. Cell Stem Cell. 2023 May 4;30(5):632-647.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2023.04.006.

Generation of Schwann cell derived melanocytes from hPSCs identifies pro-metastatic factors in melanoma.

Samuel RM, Navickas A, Maynard A, Gaylord EA, Garcia K, Bhat S, Majd H, Richter MN, Elder N, Le D, Nguyen P, Shibata B, Llabata ML, Selleri L, Laird DJ, Darmanis S, Goodarzi H, Fattahi F. bioRxiv. 2023 Mar 7:2023.03.06.531220. doi: 10.1101/2023.03.06.531220. Preprint.

2022

Programming multicellular assembly with synthetic cell adhesion molecules.

Stevens AJ, Harris AR, Gerdts J, Kim KH, Trentesaux C, Ramirez JT, McKeithan WL, Fattahi F, Klein OD, Fletcher DA, Lim WA. Nature. 2023 Feb;614(7946):144-152. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05622-z. Epub 2022 Dec 12.

Diseased, differentiated and difficult: Strategies for improved engineering of in vitro neurological systems.

Elder N, Fattahi F, McDevitt TC, Zholudeva LV. Front Cell Neurosci. 2022 Sep 27;16:962103. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2022.962103. eCollection 2022.

Stem Cell-Based Models for Studying the Effects of Cancer and Cancer Therapies on the Peripheral Nervous System.

Richter MN, Fattahi F. Adv Biol (Weinh). 2022 Sep;6(9):e2200009. doi: 10.1002/adbi.202200009. Epub 2022 Jun 4.

A dual SHOX2:GFP; MYH6:mCherry knockin hESC reporter line for derivation of human SAN-like cells.

Ghazizadeh Z, Zhu J, Fattahi F, Tang A, Sun X, Amin S, Tsai SY, Khalaj M, Zhou T, Samuel RM, Zhang T, Ortega FA, Gordillo M, Moroziewicz D; NYSCF Global Stem Cell Array® Team; Paull D, Noggle SA, Xiang JZ, Studer L, Christini DJ, Pitt GS, Evans T, Chen S. iScience. 2022 Mar 25;25(4):104153. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104153. eCollection 2022 Apr 15.

Androgens increase excitement in brain organoid research.

Samuel RM, Majd H, Richter MN, Fattahi F. Cell Stem Cell. 2022 Apr 7;29(4):495-497. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2022.02.012.

2021

5-Fluorouracil: A Narrative Review on the Role of Regulatory Mechanisms in Driving Resistance to This Chemotherapeutic Agent.

Ghafouri-Fard S, Abak A, Tondro Anamag F, Shoorei H, Fattahi F, Javadinia SA, Basiri A, Taheri M. Front Oncol. 2021 Apr 19;11:658636. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.658636. eCollection 2021.

The interaction between miRNAs/lncRNAs and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in human disorders.

Ghafouri-Fard S, Abak A, Fattahi F, Hussen BM, Bahroudi Z, Shoorei H, Taheri M. Biomed Pharmacother. 2021 Jun;138:111519. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2021.111519. Epub 2021 Mar 20.

Surface Proteomics Reveals CD72 as a Target for In Vitro-Evolved Nanobody-Based CAR-T Cells in KMT2A/MLL1-Rearranged B-ALL.

Nix MA, Mandal K, Geng H, Paranjape N, Lin YT, Rivera JM, Marcoulis M, White KL, Whitman JD, Bapat SP, Parker KR, Ramirez J, Deucher A, Phojanokong P, Steri V, Fattahi F, Hann BC, Satpathy AT, Manglik A, Stieglitz E, Wiita AP. Cancer Discov. 2021 Aug;11(8):2032-2049. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-20-0242. Epub 2021 Mar 16. PMID: 33727310

Prospective Isolation of ISL1+ Cardiac Progenitors from Human ESCs for Myocardial Infarction Therapy.

Ghazizadeh Z, Fattahi F, Mirzaei M, Bayersaikhan D, Lee J, Chae S, Hwang D, Byun K, Tabar MS, Taleahmad S, Mirshahvaladi S, Shabani P, Fonoudi H, Haynes PA, Baharvand H, Aghdami N, Evans T, Lee B, Salekdeh GH. Stem Cell Reports. 2021 Mar 9;16(3):666-668. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.01.012.

2020

Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Derived Sensory Neurons are Sensitive to the Neurotoxic Effects of Paclitaxel.

Xiong, C., Chua, K.C., Stage, T.B., Priotti, J., Kim, J., Altman‐Merino, A., Chan, D., Saraf, K., Canato Ferracini, A., Fattahi, F. and Kroetz, D.L. (2020). Clin Transl Sci. https://doi.org/10.1111/cts.12912

Androgen Signaling Regulates SARS-CoV-2 Receptor Levels and Is Associated with Severe COVID-19 Symptoms in Men.

Samuel RM, Majd H, Richter MN, Ghazizadeh Z, Zekavat SM, Navickas A, Ramirez JT, Asgharian H, Simoneau CR, Bonser LR, Koh KD, Garcia-Knight M, Tassetto M, Sunshine S, Farahvashi S, Kalantari A, Liu W, Andino R, Zhao H, Natarajan P, Erle DJ, Ott M, Goodarzi H, Fattahi F. Cell Stem Cell. 2020 Dec 3;27(6):876-889.e12. doi:10.1016/j.stem.2020.11.009. Epub 2020 Nov 17. PMID: 33232663; PMCID: PMC7670929.

Generation of Knockout Gene-Edited Human Intestinal Organoids.

Rajendra C, Wald T, Barber K, Spence JR, Fattahi F, Klein OD. Methods Mol Biol. 2020;2171:215-230. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-0747-3_13. PMID: 32705644.

Androgen Regulates SARS-CoV-2 Receptor Levels and Is Associated with Severe COVID-19 Symptoms in Men.

Ghazizadeh Z, Majd H, Richter M, Samuel R, Zekavat SM, Asgharian H, Farahvashi S, Kalantari A, Ramirez J, Zhao H, Natarajan P, Goodarzi H, Fattahi F. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2020 May 15:2020.05.12.091082. doi: 10.1101/2020.05.12.091082. Update in: Cell Stem Cell. 2020 Nov 17;: PMID: 32511360; PMCID: PMC7263488.

Roadmap for the Emerging Field of Cancer Neuroscience.

Monje M, Borniger JC, D'Silva NJ, Deneen B, Dirks PB, Fattahi F, Frenette PS, Garzia L, Gutmann DH, Hanahan D, Hervey-Jumper SL, Hondermarck H, Hurov JB, Kepecs A, Knox SM, Lloyd AC, Magnon C, Saloman JL, Segal RA, Sloan EK, Sun X, Taylor MD, Tracey KJ, Trotman LC, Tuveson DA, Wang TC, White RA, Winkler F. Cell. 2020 Apr 16;181(2):219-222. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.03.034. PMID: 32302564; PMCID: PMC7286095.

2019

Derivation of enteric neuron lineages from human pluripotent stem cells.
Barber K, Studer L, Fattahi F. Nat Protoc. 2019 Apr;14(4):1261-1279. PMID: 30911172

2018

HSP90-incorporating chaperome networks as biosensor for disease-related pathways in patient-specific midbrain dopamine neurons.

Kishinevsky S, Wang T, Rodina A, Chung SY, Xu C, Philip J, Taldone T, Joshi S, Alpaugh ML, Bolaender A, Gutbier S, Sandhu D, Fattahi F, Zimmer B, Shah SK, Chang E, Inda C, Koren J 3rd, Saurat NG, Leist M, Gross SS, Seshan VE, Klein C, Tomishima MJ, Erdjument-Bromage H, Neubert TA, Henrickson RC, Chiosis G, Studer L. Nat Commun. 2018 Oct 19;9(1):4345. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-06486-6. PMID: 30341316; PMCID: PMC6195591.

Prospective Isolation of ISL1+ Cardiac Progenitors from Human ESCs for Myocardial Infarction Therapy. 
Ghazizadeh Z*, Fattahi F*, Mirzaei M, Bayersaikhan D, Lee J, Chae S, Hwang D, Byun K, Tabar MS, Taleahmad S, Mirshahvaladi S, Shabani P, Fonoudi H, Haynes PA, Baharvand H, Aghdami N, Evans T, Lee B, Salekdeh GH. Stem Cell Reports. 2018 Mar 13;10(3):848-859. PMID: 29503094. *Equal contribution

2017

A Modular Platform for Differentiation of Human PSCs into All Major Ectodermal Lineages.
Tchieu J*, Zimmer B*, Fattahi F*, Amin S, Zeltner N, Chen S, Studer L. Cell Stem Cell. 2017 Sep 7;21(3):399-410.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2017.08.015. PMID: 28886367. *Equal contribution

Combined small-molecule inhibition accelerates the derivation of functional cortical neurons from human pluripotent stem cells.

Qi Y, Zhang XJ, Renier N, Wu Z, Atkin T, Sun Z, Ozair MZ, Tchieu J, Zimmer B, Fattahi F, Ganat Y, Azevedo R, Zeltner N, Brivanlou AH, Karayiorgou M, Gogos J, Tomishima M, Tessier-Lavigne M, Shi SH, Studer L. Nat Biotechnol. 2017 Feb;35(2):154-163. doi: 10.1038/nbt.3777. Epub 2017 Jan 23. PMID: 28112759; PMCID: PMC5516899.

2016

Capturing the biology of disease severity in a PSC-based model of familial dysautonomia.
Zeltner N, Fattahi F, Dubois NC, Saurat N, Lafaille F, Shang L, Zimmer B, Tchieu J, Soliman MA, Lee G, Casanova JL, Studer L. Nat Med. 2016 Dec;22(12):1421-1427. PMID: 27841875

Deriving human ENS lineages for cell therapy and drug discovery in Hirschsprung disease.
Fattahi F, Steinbeck JA, Kriks S, Tchieu J, Zimmer B, Kishinevsky S, Zeltner N, Mica Y, El-Nachef W, Zhao H, de Stanchina E, Gershon MD, Grikscheit TC, Chen S, Studer L. Nature. 2016 Mar 3;531(7592):105-9. PMID: 26863197

2015

Neural Crest Cells from Dual SMAD Inhibition.
Fattahi F, Studer L, Tomishima MJ. Curr Protoc Stem Cell Biol. 2015 May 1;33:1H.9.1-9. PMID: 26344232

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Faranak Fattahi (PI)
faranak.fattahi@ucsf.edu
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Spencer Nyarady (Research Assistant and Lab Manager)
spencer.nyarady@ucsf.edu

Born and raised in Sacramento, I completed my undergraduate degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology with a neurobiology emphasis at UC Berkeley in 2017. After working at a drug quality control lab in the Santa Fe area for a couple years, I moved back to the Bay Area and joined the Fattahi Lab at the start of 2022. I have broad research interests including cellular development and signaling pathways, gene regulatory networks, and the gut-brain axis, and am currently looking at pursuing a PhD or industry career. I am also a musician, playing violin, guitar, and trumpet for many years, most recently in local SF indie rock bands Commissure and Samson. I spend much of my free time going to live music and concerts, cooking, and walking my dog Nice in parks around the city

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Homa Majd (Post-doctoral Fellow)
homa.majd@ucsf.edu

Before joining the Fattahi lab, I did my PhD studying mitochondrial membrane transporters and how they link the metabolic pathways of mitochondria and cytoplasm (you can find out more about it here :) ). I am fascinated by cell metabolism and signaling and I hope to understand them better. I love hiking in national parks, gardening, running and cycling as much as I enjoy reading a book in a chilled cafe.

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Mikayla Richter (Post-doctoral Fellow)
mikayla.richter@ucsf.edu

I am a Ph.D graduate student at the University of California, San Francisco pursuing a degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics. Prior to graduate school, I worked in the pharmaceutical industry focusing on all facets of late stage biologic drug development - formulation, process, manufacturing, device, and patient usability. Now a graduate student in the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics PhD program, my interests have expanded to disease modeling and drug discovery. In my free time, I manage my cat’s Instagram: @kingcurtisthecat. Besides pharmaceutical science, I can talk about Curtis and our adventures together for hours.

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Ali Kalantari (Graduate Student)
HosseinAli.Kalantari@ucsf.edu

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Ryan Samuel (Post-doctoral Fellow)
ryan.samuel@ucsf.edu

Originally from Virginia, I completed my Bachelor of Science at James Madison University in Biotechnology. Currently, I am a graduate student in the Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Ph.D. program with broad interests in developmental/congenital disorders, stem cell based therapies, and stem cells as a tool to study development. In the Fattahi Lab, I use directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells to study the development and function of specific neural crest lineages in health and disease. Outside of the lab, I like to go to the gym, binge Netflix shows with my wife and cat, and explore the beautiful state of California.

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Jonathan T. Ramirez (PhD Student, DSCB)
Jonathan.Ramirez@ucsf.edu

I am a PhD candidate in the Developmental and Stem Cell Biology program at UCSF, where I am pioneering machine-learning approaches that integrate multimodal omics and imaging datasets to unravel complex cellular decision-making. Drawing on my hands-on experience with human iPSC culture, synthetic biology tools, and PyTorch model development, I build computational frameworks to predict and process big-data outputs from both molecular and image-based assays. When I'm not training algorithms or pipetting in the lab, you’ll find me tinkering on my 3D printer—often designing custom lab gadgets—and doting on my beloved dogs, who remain my greatest source of inspiration.

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Kalyan Sankar (Research Assistant and Lab Manager)
kalyan.sankar@ucsf.edu

I am a second generation immigrant from Tamil Nadu, India. I was born in the United States but spent much of my childhood in India and moving to different states. I settled in Oregon at around 12 years old, then went to University of California, Berkeley to study Microbial Biology and Data Science. Genetics and human biology is an endlessly fascinating topic to me, and I am eager to explore the web of coordinated chemistry under our skin that keeps us all alive. I joined Fattahi Lab after graduating in 2023, and I am excited to delve into the science of neurons and stem cells. Hopefully I can help cast light onto some of the unknowns of stem cell science and the enteric nervous system.

Evgeniia Pimenova (Associate Specialist)
evgeniia.pimenova@ucsf.edu


 

I graduated with an MD and PhD in Russia and worked as a pediatric surgeon for 17 years, and I was a teacher for students and residents, as well as being engaged in scientific research. Colorectal pediatric surgery and rehabilitation was my topic for the last 10 years. I always performed scientific research parallel to my clinical practice, because I had a lot of patients with congenital anomalies of the enteric nervous system, as well as spinal cord anomalies, and I think strong fundamental research definitely could improve treatment and management results.
When I decided to switch to a research position, I joined the Fattahi lab. I am happy to be a part of this professional team since December 2023.

Andrew Cesiulis
Andrew Cesiulis (Graduate Student)
andrius.cesiulis@ucsf.edu

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Alireza Majd (Post-doctoral Fellow)
alireza.majd@ucsf.edu

I have always admired scientific research since it creates an atmosphere in which questioning is appreciated, and ideas are welcome. It resembles a treadmill on which you continuously solve problems and come up with new ideas, instead of running (also I hate running). In my years as a medical student at Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) I witnessed how chronic diseases impact our bodies and quality of life. Peripheral neuropathies and gut motility disorders constitute significant public health challenges affecting millions of people and there are no therapies currently available. I am so thrilled to “run” on this scientific treadmill towards solutions for these health problems.

Alumni

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Tommy Luong (Visiting Graduate Student)
tommy.luong@ucsf.edu

 
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Nick Elder (Graduate Student)
2020-2025
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Lina Afonso (Graduate Student)
2023-2024

 
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Meri Okorie (Graduate Student)
2022-2024
Megan Scantlen
Megan Scantlen (Graduate Student)
2021-2024
Angeline Chemel
Angeline Chemel (Graduate Student)
2021-2024
Aaron Earley
Aaron Earley (Post-doctoral Fellow)
2022-2023
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Sina Farahvashi (Research Assistant and Lab Manager)
2018-2023
Juliana Moreira
Juliana Moreira (Visiting Graduate Student)
2022-2023

 
Image of Jonathan Ramirez
Jonathan Ramirez (Research Associate)
2020-2022

 
Image of Meso Okoye
Meso Okoye (CIRM Masters Student)
2020-2021
Image of Phi Nguyen
Phi Nguyen (Research Assistant)
2019-2021
Image of Kevin Barber
Kevin Barber (Research Assistant)
2017-2019
Samyukta Bhat (Research Assistant)
2017-2018
Mehrnaz Namiri (Volunteer)
2017

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Please reach out to fattahilab@gmail.com regarding any issues with the website or any suggestions. 

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