Bio
Mehrdad received his doctoral degree from the Wallenberg Neuroscience Center of Lund University in Sweden. He held several positions at biopharmaceutical companies in San Francisco Bay Area with extensive focus on CNS drug discovery and preclinical development. In 2008, Mehrdad joined Stanford University to establish the Behavioral and funcitonal neuroscience laboratory and his research laboratory with a focus on understanding normal and pathological brain functions for neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), stroke, and autism.
Efforts are currently directed towards targets involved in neurodegenerative pathways responsible for Selective Neuronal Vulnerability of sensitive nuclei in brain in these disorders. Through these investigations, My team and I are aiming to understand the processes leading to the functional and behavioral malfunction in these disorders and develop therapeutics for these disorders. The ultimate goal is to accelerate the translation of these experimental discoveries into novel therapeutic approaches, to improve the quality of life for patients with brain disorders.
Academic Appointments
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Professor (Research), Neurosurgery
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Professor (Research) (By courtesy), Neurology & Neurological Sciences
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Member, Bio-X
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Member, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute
Administrative Appointments
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Program Director, Institute of Neuro-Innovation and Translational Neurosciences (2008 - 2013)
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Director, Behavioral and Functional Neuroscience Laboratory (2007 - Present)
Professional Education
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MS, Medical School, University of Lund, Sweden, BioMedical (1998)
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Ph.D., Faculty of Medicine, Univesity of Lund, Sweden (Wallenberg Neuroscience Research Center), Medical Science (1999)