Mahsa Pahlavan is a Biomedical Engineering PhD student at the University of Southern California, working in Dr. Reginald Hill’s lab. She is studying metastasis in pancreatic cancer by designing a 3D biomimetic metastatic liver niche model that recapitulates the dense extracellular matrix and stiffness found in metastatic tumors. Her long-term goal is to design effective therapeutics that can eradicate metastatic tumors.
Prior to working at the Ellison Institute, she received a BS degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology, and an MS degree in Chemistry from San Diego State University. Outside of the lab, she enjoys singing, drawing, hiking, and reading books about psychotherapy and philosophy.