{{Short description|Iranian-American computational biologist and biomedical engineer}} {{Multiple issues| {{cite check|date=August 2025|reason=multiple duplicate sources plus some which do not validate claims or are peacock}} {{coi|date=August 2025|reason=IP user adding details which strongly suggests inside knowledge or autobiographical}} }} {{Infobox scientist | name = Elham Azizi | image = | caption = Azizi in 2024 | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1986}} | birth_place = Tehran, Iran | citizenship = United States | fields = Computational biology, Biomedical engineering, Machine learning, Cancer genomics | workplaces = Columbia University | alma_mater = Sharif University of Technology<br />Boston University | doctoral_advisor = James Galagan | academic_advisors = Dana Pe'er | awards = {{ubl | Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science (2025) | Takeda/NYAS Innovators in Science Award (2024) | Allen Distinguished Investigator Award (2023) }} | website = [https://www.azizilab.com/ azizilab.com] | thesis_title = Modeling gene regulatory networks through data integration | thesis_year = 2014 }} '''Elham Azizi''' (Persian: الهام عزیزی; pronounced /ɛlˈhɑːm æˈziːzi/; born 1986) is an Iranian‑American computational biologist and biomedical engineer focused on cancer research. She holds the endowed Herbert & Florence Irving Associate Professorship of Cancer Data Research, and is an associate professor of biomedical engineering, at Columbia University.<ref>{{cite web |title=Elham Azizi, PhD {{!}} Columbia University |url=https://cancerdynamics.columbia.edu/elham-azizi-phd |website=cancerdynamics.columbia.edu}}</ref> She is also affiliated with the Department of Computer Science, Irving Institute for Cancer Dynamics (IICD), Data Science Institute, and the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Azizi focuses on developing artificial intelligence and machine learning frameworks, alongside utilizing single‑cell genomic and imaging techniques to study cancer progression and immunotherapy response.<ref>{{cite web |title=Azizi Lab @ Columbia |url=https://www.azizilab.com/ |website=Azizi Lab @ Columbia |language=en}}</ref> Her awards include the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science (2025)<ref>{{cite web |title=Navigating to the forefront of innovation: A celebration of immigrant scientists |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/navigating-forefront-innovation-celebration-immigrant-scientists |website=www.science.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite web |title=Elham Azizi: Pioneering Research and Advocacy in Computational Biology |url=https://vilcek.org/news/elham-azizi-pioneering-research-and-advocacy-in-computational-biology/ |website=Vilcek Foundation}}</ref> and the Takeda/NYAS Innovators in Science Award (2024).<ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=Elham Azizi vs. cancer: Fighting the disease with data, AI, and math |url=https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1010154 |website=EurekAlert! |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Elham Azizi vs. Cancer: Fighting the Disease with Data, AI, and Math {{!}} Columbia Engineering |url=https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/about/news/elham-azizi-vs-cancer-fighting-disease-data-ai-and-math |website=www.engineering.columbia.edu |language=en |date=14 March 2024}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Azizi was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1986.<ref>{{cite web |title=Elham Azizi vs. Cancer: Fighting the Disease with Data, AI, and Math {{!}} Columbia Engineering |url=https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/about/news/elham-azizi-vs-cancer-fighting-disease-data-ai-and-math#:~:text=teenager%2C%20when%20she%20won%20an,than%20the%20biology%2Fchemistry%20one%2C%20despite |website=www.engineering.columbia.edu |language=en |date=14 March 2024}}</ref> As a high school student at Tehran Farzanegan School, she became the first Iranian recipient of the ''First Step to Nobel Prize in Physics'', which was awarded for a two‑year experiment and statistical models of the trajectories of falling leaves.<ref>{{cite web |title=Elham Azizi: Pioneering Research and Advocacy in Computational Biology |url=https://vilcek.org/news/elham-azizi-pioneering-research-and-advocacy-in-computational-biology/#:~:text=There%20aren%E2%80%99t%20many%20people%20who,earned%20her%20the%20prestigious%20award |website=Vilcek Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Official Website of the First Step to Nobel Prize in Physics; Archived Wayback Machine |url=http://www.ifpan.edu.pl/firststep/ |website=www.ifpan.edu.pl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100826044810/http://www.ifpan.edu.pl/firststep/ |archive-date=26 August 2010 }}</ref> In 2008, she earned a B.S. in electrical engineering (signal processing) from the Sharif University of Technology. Afterwards, she immigrated to the United States, where she completed an M.S. in electrical engineering in 2010 and a PhD in bioinformatics at Boston University in 2014.<ref name="auto2">{{cite web |title=Elham Azizi |url=https://www.bme.columbia.edu/faculty/elham-azizi |website=Biomedical Engineering |language=en |date=5 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Lab Members |url=https://www.galaganlab.org/people |website=Galagan Lab}}</ref> Her thesis, supervised by James Galagan and in collaboration with Edoardo Airoldi, integrated gene‑regulatory network modelling with machine learning.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Azizi |first1=Elham |title=Modeling gene regulatory networks through data integration |url=https://open.bu.edu/items/d82a46d2-65de-4aa2-9917-f8e4835ef859 |date=2014}}</ref>
She conducted research in biomedical engineering at Boston University, in statistics at Harvard University, and computational cancer genomics at Microsoft Research. After this, she joined Columbia University as a postdoctoral research scientist under the mentorship of Dana Pe'er, an expert in computational biology, who transitioned to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center with her in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |title=Elham Azizi vs. Cancer: Fighting the Disease with Data, AI, and Math {{!}} Columbia Engineering |url=https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/about/news/elham-azizi-vs-cancer-fighting-disease-data-ai-and-math#:~:text=Welcome%20to%20Columbia |website=www.engineering.columbia.edu |language=en |date=14 March 2024}}</ref> In her postdoctoral research, Azizi introduced probabilistic modelling approaches to analyze single-cell genomic data, addressing statistical challenges arising from heterogeneous clinical datasets.
== Research == The Azizi Lab develops frameworks for machine learning, artificial intelligence, and statistics, to study the complex dynamics of tumor microenvironments. By integrating genomic, spatial, transcriptomic, and imaging data, Azizi's research investigates cancer progression,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nazaret |first1=Achille |last2=Fan |first2=Joy Linyue |last3=Lavallée |first3=Vincent-Philippe |last4=Burdziak |first4=Cassandra |last5=Cornish |first5=Andrew E. |last6=Kiseliovas |first6=Vaidotas |last7=Bowman |first7=Robert L. |last8=Masilionis |first8=Ignas |last9=Chun |first9=Jaeyoung |last10=Eisman |first10=Shira E. |last11=Wang |first11=James |last12=Hong |first12=Justin |last13=Shi |first13=Lingting |last14=Levine |first14=Ross L. |last15=Mazutis |first15=Linas |last16=Blei |first16=David |last17=Pe'er |first17=Dana |last18=Azizi |first18=Elham |title=Joint representation and visualization of derailed cell states with Decipher |journal=Genome Biology |article-number=219 |doi=10.1186/s13059-025-03682-8 |date=23 July 2025 |volume=26 |issue=1 |pmid=40702544 |pmc=12285193 |doi-access=free }}</ref> immune evasion,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Yiping |last2=Fan |first2=Joy Linyue |last3=Melms |first3=Johannes C. |last4=Amin |first4=Amit Dipak |last5=Georgis |first5=Yohanna |last6=Barrera |first6=Irving |last7=Ho |first7=Patricia |last8=Tagore |first8=Somnath |last9=Abril-Rodríguez |first9=Gabriel |last10=He |first10=Siyu |last11=Jin |first11=Yinuo |last12=Biermann |first12=Jana |last13=Hofree |first13=Matan |last14=Caprio |first14=Lindsay |last15=Berhe |first15=Simon |last16=Khan |first16=Shaheer A. |last17=Henick |first17=Brian S. |last18=Ribas |first18=Antoni |last19=Macosko |first19=Evan Z. |last20=Chen |first20=Fei |last21=Taylor |first21=Alison M. |last22=Schwartz |first22=Gary K. |last23=Carvajal |first23=Richard D. |last24=Azizi |first24=Elham |last25=Izar |first25=Benjamin |title=Multimodal single-cell and whole-genome sequencing of small, frozen clinical specimens |journal=Nature Genetics |pages=19–25 |language=en |doi=10.1038/s41588-022-01268-9 |date=January 2023 |volume=55 |issue=1 |pmid=36624340 |pmc=10155259 }}</ref> and therapeutic resistance.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Maurer |first1=Katie |last2=Park |first2=Cameron Y. |last3=Mani |first3=Shouvik |last4=Borji |first4=Mehdi |last5=Raths |first5=Florian |last6=Gouin |first6=Kenneth H. |last7=Penter |first7=Livius |last8=Jin |first8=Yinuo |last9=Zhang |first9=Jia Yi |last10=Shin |first10=Crystal |last11=Brenner |first11=James R. |last12=Southard |first12=Jackson |last13=Krishna |first13=Sachi |last14=Lu |first14=Wesley |last15=Lyu |first15=Haoxiang |last16=Abbondanza |first16=Domenic |last17=Mangum |first17=Chanell |last18=Olsen |first18=Lars Rønn |last19=Lawson |first19=Michael J. |last20=Fabani |first20=Martin |last21=Neuberg |first21=Donna S. |last22=Bachireddy |first22=Pavan |last23=Glezer |first23=Eli N. |last24=Farhi |first24=Samouil L. |last25=Li |first25=Shuqiang |last26=Livak |first26=Kenneth J. |last27=Ritz |first27=Jerome |last28=Soiffer |first28=Robert J. |last29=Wu |first29=Catherine J. |last30=Azizi |first30=Elham |title=Coordinated immune networks in leukemia bone marrow microenvironments distinguish response to cellular therapy |journal=Science Immunology |article-number=eadr0782 |doi=10.1126/sciimmunol.adr0782 |date=24 January 2025 |volume=10 |issue=103 |pmid=39854478 |pmc=12820906 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bachireddy |first1=Pavan |last2=Azizi |first2=Elham |last3=Burdziak |first3=Cassandra |last4=Nguyen |first4=Vinhkhang N. |last5=Ennis |first5=Christina S. |last6=Maurer |first6=Katie |last7=Park |first7=Cameron Y. |last8=Choo |first8=Zi-Ning |last9=Li |first9=Shuqiang |last10=Gohil |first10=Satyen H. |last11=Ruthen |first11=Neil G. |last12=Ge |first12=Zhongqi |last13=Keskin |first13=Derin B. |last14=Cieri |first14=Nicoletta |last15=Livak |first15=Kenneth J. |last16=Kim |first16=Haesook T. |last17=Neuberg |first17=Donna S. |last18=Soiffer |first18=Robert J. |last19=Ritz |first19=Jerome |last20=Alyea |first20=Edwin P. |last21=Pe'er |first21=Dana |last22=Wu |first22=Catherine J. |title=Mapping the evolution of T cell states during response and resistance to adoptive cellular therapy |journal=Cell Reports |language=English |doi=10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109992 |date=9 November 2021 |volume=37 |issue=6 |article-number=109992 |pmid=34758319 |pmc=9035342 }}</ref>
The lab employs diverse computational techniques, including probabilistic models, deep generative models, attention-based architectures, causal discovery methods, diffusion, and foundation models.<ref>{{cite web |title=Publications |url=https://www.azizilab.com/publications.html |website=Azizi Lab @ Columbia |language=en}}</ref>
Their deep generative model for integrating spatial transcriptomics with histological imaging characterizes spatial niches involving metabolic reprogramming and immune-suppressive environments in aggressive breast cancers, such as triple-negative and metaplastic breast cancers, and reports candidate therapeutic targets and biomarkers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=He |first1=Siyu |last2=Jin |first2=Yinuo |last3=Nazaret |first3=Achille |last4=Shi |first4=Lingting |last5=Chen |first5=Xueer |last6=Rampersaud |first6=Sham |last7=Dhillon |first7=Bahawar S. |last8=Valdez |first8=Izabella |last9=Friend |first9=Lauren E. |last10=Fan |first10=Joy Linyue |last11=Park |first11=Cameron Y. |last12=Mintz |first12=Rachel L. |last13=Lao |first13=Yeh-Hsing |last14=Carrera |first14=David |last15=Fang |first15=Kaylee W. |last16=Mehdi |first16=Kaleem |last17=Rohde |first17=Madeline |last18=McFaline-Figueroa |first18=José L. |last19=Blei |first19=David |last20=Leong |first20=Kam W. |last21=Rudensky |first21=Alexander Y. |last22=Plitas |first22=George |last23=Azizi |first23=Elham |title=Starfysh integrates spatial transcriptomic and histologic data to reveal heterogeneous tumor–immune hubs |journal=Nature Biotechnology |pages=223–235 |language=en |doi=10.1038/s41587-024-02173-8 |date=February 2025 |volume=43 |issue=2 |pmid=38514799 |pmc=11415552 }}</ref>
Computational modeling of tumour-immune interactions<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Park |first1=Cameron |last2=Mani |first2=Shouvik |last3=Beltran-Velez |first3=Nicolas |last4=Maurer |first4=Katie |last5=Huang |first5=Teddy |last6=Li |first6=Shuqiang |last7=Gohil |first7=Satyen |last8=Livak |first8=Kenneth J. |last9=Knowles |first9=David A. |last10=Wu |first10=Catherine J. |last11=Azizi |first11=Elham |title=A Bayesian framework for inferring dynamic intercellular interactions from time-series single-cell data |url=https://genome.cshlp.org/content/34/9/1384.full |journal=Genome Research |pages=1384–1396 |language=en |doi=10.1101/gr.279126.124 |date=1 September 2024 |volume=34 |issue=9 |pmid=39237300 |pmc=11529839 }}</ref> in patient specimens has demonstrated that cells driving the graft-versus-leukemia (GvL) effect in acute myeloid leukemia originate from the donor infusion, but their activation relies on a permissive and immunologically diverse bone marrow microenvironment, .<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Orofino |first1=Giorgio |last2=Toffalori |first2=Cristina |last3=Vago |first3=Luca |title=In the Right Place and the Right State: Spatial Cross-Talk and Immune State Dictate Leukemia Response to Immunotherapy |url=https://aacrjournals.org/cancerres/article-abstract/85/9/1574/762050/In-the-Right-Place-and-the-Right-State-Spatial?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Cancer Research |pages=1574–1576 |doi=10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-25-1018 |date=2 May 2025 |volume=85 |issue=9 |pmid=40067923 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Maurer |first1=Katie |last2=Park |first2=Cameron Y. |last3=Mani |first3=Shouvik |last4=Borji |first4=Mehdi |last5=Raths |first5=Florian |last6=Gouin |first6=Kenneth H. |last7=Penter |first7=Livius |last8=Jin |first8=Yinuo |last9=Zhang |first9=Jia Yi |last10=Shin |first10=Crystal |last11=Brenner |first11=James R. |last12=Southard |first12=Jackson |last13=Krishna |first13=Sachi |last14=Lu |first14=Wesley |last15=Lyu |first15=Haoxiang |last16=Abbondanza |first16=Domenic |last17=Mangum |first17=Chanell |last18=Olsen |first18=Lars Rønn |last19=Lawson |first19=Michael J. |last20=Fabani |first20=Martin |last21=Neuberg |first21=Donna S. |last22=Bachireddy |first22=Pavan |last23=Glezer |first23=Eli N. |last24=Farhi |first24=Samouil L. |last25=Li |first25=Shuqiang |last26=Livak |first26=Kenneth J. |last27=Ritz |first27=Jerome |last28=Soiffer |first28=Robert J. |last29=Wu |first29=Catherine J. |last30=Azizi |first30=Elham |title=Coordinated immune networks in leukemia bone marrow microenvironments distinguish response to cellular therapy |journal=Science Immunology |article-number=eadr0782 |doi=10.1126/sciimmunol.adr0782 |date=24 January 2025 |volume=10 |issue=103 |pmid=39854478 |pmc=12820906 }}</ref> The lab also employs computational models to further decouple environmental effects from tumor-intrinsic effects, for example, to quantify gene dosage effects on phenotypic plasticity and therapeutic resistance in melanoma patients undergoing immune checkpoint blockade therapy. These models have been used to reconstruct clonal evolution, and investigate genetic drivers of resistance.<ref>{{cite bioRxiv |author1=Joy Linyue Fan |author2=Mingxuan Zhang |author3=William O'Brien |date=December 17, 2024 |title=Echidna: A Bayesian framework for quantifying gene dosage effect impacting phenotypic plasticity |biorxiv=10.1101/2024.12.15.628568 }}</ref>
The lab has also developed generative models to visualize and align diverging cell trajectories. This work has reported rare leukemia cell states and therapeutic targets linked to disrupted gene expression, with the potential to guide early detection of cancer.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nazaret |first1=Achille |last2=Fan |first2=Joy Linyue |last3=Lavallée |first3=Vincent-Philippe |last4=Burdziak |first4=Cassandra |last5=Cornish |first5=Andrew E. |last6=Kiseliovas |first6=Vaidotas |last7=Bowman |first7=Robert L. |last8=Masilionis |first8=Ignas |last9=Chun |first9=Jaeyoung |last10=Eisman |first10=Shira E. |last11=Wang |first11=James |last12=Hong |first12=Justin |last13=Shi |first13=Lingting |last14=Levine |first14=Ross L. |last15=Mazutis |first15=Linas |last16=Blei |first16=David |last17=Pe’er |first17=Dana |last18=Azizi |first18=Elham |title=Joint representation and visualization of derailed cell states with Decipher |journal=Genome Biology |article-number=219 |doi=10.1186/s13059-025-03682-8 |date=23 July 2025 |volume=26 |issue=1 |doi-access=free |pmid=40702544 |pmc=12285193 }}</ref>
== Awards and recognition == *Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative Science Leadership Award (2022) <ref name="auto2"/><ref>{{cite web |title=How We Work: CZI Grants |url=https://chanzuckerberg.com/grants-ventures/grants/ |website=Chan Zuckerberg Initiative}}</ref> *Allen Distinguished Investigator Award, Allen Institute (2023) <ref>{{Cite web |title=Distinguished Investigators |url=https://alleninstitute.org/division/frontiers-group/distinguished-investigators/ |access-date=2025-07-19 |website=Allen Institute |language=en-US}}</ref> *Takeda and the New York Academy of Sciences Early-Career Innovator in Science Award in Cancer Immunology (2024) <ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Takeda and The New York Academy of Sciences Announce 2024 Innovators in Science Award Winners |url=https://www.takeda.com/newsroom/newsreleases/2023/takeda-and-the-new-york-academy-of-sciences-announce-2024-innovators-in-science-award-winners/ |website=www.takeda.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x5cZxkvivM |title=Innovators in Science Award: 2024 Award Ceremony Highlights |date=2024-05-06 |last=Takeda |access-date=2025-07-19 |via=YouTube}}</ref> * Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science (2025) <ref>{{Cite web |title=Elham Azizi |url=https://vilcek.org/prizes/prize-recipients/elham-azizi/ |access-date=2025-07-19 |website=Vilcek Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Outreach and advocacy == In 2016, Azizi co‑founded the [https://icml-compbio.github.io/ Workshop on Computational Biology] held for 8 consecutive years at the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML).<ref>{{cite web |title=Elham Azizi: Pioneering Research and Advocacy in Computational Biology |url=https://vilcek.org/news/elham-azizi-pioneering-research-and-advocacy-in-computational-biology/#:~:text=In%202016%2C%20Azizi%20co,attend%20the%20conference%20each%20year |website=Vilcek Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=ICML New York City |url=https://icml.cc/2016/index.html%3Fp=1519.html |website=icml.cc}}</ref> She has also organized the IICD Intensive Workshop: Methods in Single-Cell Data Integration and Optimal Transport at Columbia University Irving Institute for Cancer Dynamics.<ref>{{cite web |title=IICD Intensive Workshop: Methods in Single-Cell Data Integration and Optimal Transport (Summer 2025) {{!}} Columbia University |url=https://cancerdynamics.columbia.edu/iicd-intensive-workshop-methods-single-cell-data-integration-and-optimal-transport |website=cancerdynamics.columbia.edu}}</ref>
Azizi has spoken about the challenges she faced as an Iranian woman in science and her commitment to creating an inclusive environment for trainees.<ref>{{cite web |title=Elham Azizi vs. Cancer: Fighting the Disease with Data, AI, and Math {{!}} Columbia Engineering |url=https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/about/news/elham-azizi-vs-cancer-fighting-disease-data-ai-and-math#:~:text=The%20inclusive%20Azizi%20lab |website=www.engineering.columbia.edu |language=en |date=14 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="auto1"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Innovators in Science Award: AI Powered Cancer Research | website=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR0rinQM-Hk |date=5 December 2023}}</ref> She has stated that ''"creative, collaborative and multidisciplinary scientific research demands talents from diverse backgrounds."'' <ref>{{cite web |title=Elham Azizi Receives a CZI Science Diversity Leadership Award |url=https://www.bme.columbia.edu/elham-azizi-receives-czi-science-diversity-leadership-award |website=Biomedical Engineering |language=en |date=19 October 2022}}</ref>
== Personal life == Azizi is married to computer scientist and entrepreneur Hossein Azari.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Azari |first1=Hossein |title=Hossein Azari - Ambitious Optimist |url=https://azari.io/ |website=azari.tech |language=en}}</ref>
== See also == * List of Iranian Americans * List of famous Iranian women
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azizi, Elham}} {{authority control}} Category:Date of birth missing (living people) Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:Academics from Tehran Category:Sharif University of Technology alumni Category:Boston University alumni Category:Columbia University faculty Category:American people of Iranian descent Category:American biomedical engineers Category:Cancer researchers Category:21st-century Iranian scientists Category:Women cancer researchers