UCLA Bioengineering Postdoc Recognized as ‘Wunderkind’ by National Publication

Haleh Alimohamadi, a bioengineering postdoctoral researcher at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, has been selected as a 2024 “Wunderkind by STAT News, a national publication focused on medicine and health issues. 

Alimohamadi is one of 27 researchers and doctors selected from hundreds of nominees across North America who are honored for their innovative research in addressing some of the toughest questions in science and medicine. Alimohammadi’s research lies at the intersection of biophysics, machine learning and immunology. She is a member of UCLA Samueli bioengineering professor Gerard Wong’s laboratory. Wong has a joint faculty appointment in UCLA’s Chemistry and Biochemistry Department and is a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA.

Recent work by Alimohammadi has included building computational models and artificial intelligence frameworks to explore physical and chemical properties of polypeptides — molecules that are key to shaping cellular membrane behaviors across various biological processes. Findings from her research can shed light on how pathogens, such as the virus responsible for COVID-19, infect and damage cells and wreak havoc on individuals.

The honor is the latest of several for Alimohamadi. In September, she received the 2024 William and Diane Spicer Young Investigator Award established by Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, which recognizes young scientists who has made important technical or scientific contributions.

Among her other accolades are a fellowship from the National Science Foundation’s BioPolymers, Automated Cellular Infrastructure, Flow, and Integrated Chemistry Materials Innovation Platform; and the National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Postdoctoral Fellowship; as well as a distinguished Ph.D. student fellowship and a Siebel Scholarship while she was a doctoral student in mechanical engineering at UC San Diego.