Bio
Mehrdad received his doctoral degree in 1999 from the Wallenberg Neuroscience Center of Lund University in Sweden. He was recruited to the San Francisco Bay Area the same year where he held several positions at biopharmaceutical companies, including Affymax and AGY Therapeutics, until 2008. During this time he was responsible for the discovery and development of novel neuroprotective and regenerative small molecule and peptide therapeutics for multiple diseases. As the program leader for neuroprotection and regeneration programs at AGY Therapeutics, his work enabled several patent applications, scientific publications, and an IND application and subsequent clinical trials. These years of experience in industry built on his extensive background in CNS drug discovery and preclinical development.
In 2008, Mehrdad joined Stanford University to establish a new behavioral neuropharmacology center for the neuroscience institute. He also formed his own research laboratory to focus on understanding normal and pathological brain functions for neurological disorders such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and autism. Efforts are currently directed towards a subset of genes and proteins involved in neuroprotective or neurodegenerative pathways, which are regulated in these disorders. Through these investigations, Mehrdad and his team hope to understand the processes leading to the functional and behavioral malfunction in these disorders and develop experimental therapeutics. 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, Stanford 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)