Negin Majedi
Biography
Negin Majedi joined Cornell as an Assistant Professor in July 2024. Prior to this, she served as co-founder and CEO of Symphony Biosciences, Inc., a biotech company she launched after completing a short postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA in 2021. She received her Ph.D. in Bioengineering from UCLA in 2020, focusing on developing translational biomaterials to exploit the mechano-sensitivity of T cells for cancer therapeutics. She earned her B.Sc. (2009) and M.Sc. (2011) in Biomedical Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology, and EPFL, respectively.
Research Interests
Negin’s group focuses on understanding how tissue mechanics affect the body's immune response to solid cancers. Her research leverages this knowledge to design tumor-responsive biomaterials and mimic lymph node mechanics to develop immune-boosting bio-implants. She has extensive experience in designing polymeric biomaterials and drug delivery platforms for immunomodulatory purposes. Additionally, her executive role has enriched her understanding of the translational aspects of cancer research. Her group at Cornell focuses on developing bio-inspired designs with minimal engineering components to create clinically translatable cancer therapies.
Teaching Interests
- Immunoengineering
- Entrepreneurship for Bioengineers
Selected Publications
- Majedi F.S., Hasani M.M., Thauland T.J., Keswani S.G., Li S., Bouchard L.S., Butte M.J. “Engineered, localized depletion of regulatory T cells produces global anti-tumor immunity”. Nature Biomedical Engineering. 7 (2023) 56-71. [Cover Article]
- Majedi F.S., Hasani M.M., Thauland T.J., Li S., Bouchard L.S., Butte M.J., “T-cell activation is modulated by the 3D mechanical microenvironment”. Biomaterials. 252 (2020) 120058.
- Meng K.P., Majedi F.S., Thauland T.J., Butte M.J. “Mechanosensing through YAP controls T cell activation and metabolism”. Journal of Experimental Medicine. 217 (2020) e20200053.
- Majedi F.S., Hasani M.M., Thauland T.J., Li S., Bouchard L.S., Butte M.J., “Augmentation of T-Cell Activation by Oscillatory Forces and Engineered Antigen-Presenting Cells”. Nano Letters. 19 (2019) 6945-6954.
- Majedi F.S., Hasani M.M., Kidani Y., Thauland T.J., Moshaverinia A., Butte M.J., Bensinger S.J., Bouchard L.S. “Cytokine secreting microparticles engineer the fate and the effector functions of T cells”. Advanced Materials. 30 (2018) 1703178.
Selected Awards and Honors
- Technology in Space Prize (Center for the Advancement of Science in Space) 2024
- NCI Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Award (National Institutes of Health) 2023
- Rising Stars Women in Engineering (Asian Deans' Forum, University of Tokyo) 2023
- Google Audience Award (Los Angeles Innovation Showcase) 2023
- Young Khwarizmi Award (Ministry of Sci Res Tech) Fundamental Research 2013
- Swiss Micronanotechnology Award (CSEM) 2011
Education
- B.S. (Biomedical Engineering), Amirkabir University of Technology, 2009
- M.Sc. (Bioengineering), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), 2011
- Ph.D. (Bioengineering), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), 2020