Dr Kourosh Ebrahimi

After finishing his M.Sc. studies in Biochemical Engineering (Department of Chemical Engineering, TU Delft), Kourosh did his PhD studies with Professor Wilfred R. Hagen (Department of Biotechnology, TU Delft). He studied the mechanism of iron-storage by the ubiquitous protein ferritin. Subsequently, he did two postdocs with Professor Michael Farzan (the Scripps Research Institute, USA) and Professor (Wilfred R. Hagen, TU Delft). In November 2015, he joined the group of Professor Fraser A. Armstrong (Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford) as a fellow of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). He established a new research program in bioinorganic immunology and virology, elucidating the function of iron-sulphur proteins in the immune response and viral infection. Kourosh Joined the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at KCL in November 2021. Here, his research objectives are understanding the role of bioinorganic cofactors like iron-sulphur clusters in the immune response and viral infection and discovering new therapeutic candidates for human diseases like viral infection and cancer.

His group applies a combination of molecular and cellular biology, spectroscopic techniques and high-resolution mass spectrometry in three complementary research areas:

• Discovery and chemoenzymatic synthesis of natural-product based antiviral or antimicrobial lead molecules
• Engineering protein nanocages to develop novel therapeutics and prophylactics
• Elucidating the role of metals and bioinorganic cofactors like iron-sulphur clusters in the innate immune response and viral infection

His group collaborates with several leading research groups at King’s College London and other institutes in the UK and Europe. 

The Kourosh Lab web page can be viewed here.