Mechanical Engineering Student Receives AHA Fellowship Award

UPDATE: Mechanical Ph.D student Fariborz Soroush was invited to publish a paper in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, which is the premier journal in the field. His article was recently published and selected for the cover. See publication

August 17, 2016 — Fariborz Soroush, a Ph.D. student in the College of Engineering, received a two-year pre-doctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association. His lab work with Dr. Kiani, professor of Mechanical Engineering, to understand the function of white blood cells using a novel microfluidic system has earned him this prestigious national award. He becomes the seventh student from Dr. Kiani's lab to win a major national fellowship in the past 10 years.

Mr. Soroush, in collaboration with Dr. Kiani and Dr. Laurie Kilpatrick of Temple's Katz School of Medicine, has developed a new biomimetic microfluidic platform that could spawn a new wave of drugs to treat inflammatory diseases. This group has recreated a tissue microenvironment on a microscope slide to simulate various scenarios where white blood cells in the human body activate in response to the threat. They seek a major breakthrough in ways to improve the body's reaction to bacterial infections that may lead to sepsis or rejection of transplanted organs. This process will dramatically expedite drug trials. It also reduces the need for animals in the testing of the experimental drugs which often fail to correspond with outcomes in humans. Mr. Soroush has become a noted investigator in the field of microfluidic engineering, earning two travel awards for his work in the past year. He joined Temple after completing his master's degree at Sharif University in Iran.

The AHA Fellowship is one of the most prestigious and competitive awards for university-based novice scientists. On average, only 20% of the submitted proposals are approved for funding. Mr. Soroush will receive a full stipend in addition to providing funds to support his research.