Arafat Aljoufi
Chestnut Hill
Summary
Experienced in stem cell biology, hematology, and immunology, with a strong track record in leading complex research projects and teams. Skilled in preclinical models, single-cell and spatial multi-omics, and cell phenotyping. Committed to driving innovation in gene and cell therapy through a data-driven approach
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
Work History
Scientist II
BlueRock Therapeutics
07.2022 - 08.2023
- Developed a humanized mouse model to evaluate anti-tumor efficacy, pharmacodynamics/kinetics and biodistribution of iPSCs-derived myeloid progenitor cells
- Designed and executed the animal experiments, performed comprehensive analysis of T cell infiltration, activation, and exhaustion using multiple ex-vivo assays such as Flow cytometry, Luminex, GeoMx-DSP
- Established an automated and manual Nanostring-GeoMx DSP-Spatial multi-omics platform to interrogate tumor microenvironment and predict novel biomarkers
- Trained collaborating teams on Luminex, GeoMx-DSP, automated immunohistochemistry (IHC) and immunofluorescence (IF) techniques.
Graduate Research Assistant
Indiana University-Purdue University, IUPUI
06.2017 - 07.2022
- Dissertation Research, advised by Dr. Hal Broxmeyer
- Described the transcriptome of normal and preleukemic hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) under physiologic oxygen tension
- Identified key molecular programs associated with the enhanced engraftment in normal HSCs and preleukemic stem cell, providing potential therapeutic targets to optimize HSCs transplantation and mitigate the growth advantage of preleukemic stem cells
- Reported a novel method of mobilizing greater number of long-term engrafting HSCs under physiologic oxygen conditions.
- Screened and evaluated the expression of potential multiple myeloma therapeutic targets in human umbilical cord blood-derived HSCs and progenitors.
Research Technician
Columbia University, Kang Liu
02.2014 - 06.2016
- Investigated human HSC fate decision and dendritic cell development.
Research Technician
New York University, Jane Skok
02.2013 - 01.2014
- Investigated DNA-double strand breaks repair machinery in B cells class switch recombination.
Education
PhD - Microbiology and Immunology
Indiana University
Indianapolis, IN07.2022
MD - Medicine
Cairo University
Cairo, Egypt11.2007
Skills
- Stem Cell Biology: Isolation of human cord blood, mouse bone marrow, and mobilized peripheral blood HSCs and progenitors, HSCs ex vivo expansion and culture; colony formation assays, cell cycle, apoptosis, and proliferation assays
- Immunology: Flow Cytometry, Luminex, and ELISA assays T cells, B cells, and dendritic cells isolation, culture, and phenotyping
- Animal Models: IACUC protocols writing and submission, Immuno-oncology subcutaneous and orthotopic humanized mouse models, HSCs transplantation and mobilization co-genic mouse models Mouse injections (iv, sc, ip, oral gavage, stereotaxic)
- High Throughput Sequencing: Single cell sequencing, and cell hashing, Spatial Muti-Omics (Nanostring-GeoMx-DSP), Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) library preparation
- Histology and Imaging: Leica BondRx - IHC/IF, QuPath
- Molecular Biology: CRISPR-Cas9 knockout/activation and shRNA-mediated knockdown assays, ddPCR, western blotting, DNA dot blotting, and Metaphase FISH assays
- Computational Biology: Proficient in analyzing and comprehending NGS datasets, proficient in R, Python, and Unix programming languages
Selected Publications
- Aljoufi A, Zhang C, Ropa JP, et al., Physioxia induced Downregulation of Tet2 in Hematopoietic Stem Cells contributes to Enhanced Self-Renewal. Blood, 2022.
- Aljoufi A, Cooper S, Broxmeyer HE. Collection and Processing of Mobilized Mouse Peripheral Blood at Lowered Oxygen Tension Yields Enhanced Numbers of Hematopoietic Stem Cells. Stem Cell Rev Rep. 2020.
- Lee J, Zhou YJ, Ma W, Zhang W, Aljoufi A, et al. Lineage specification of human dendritic cells is marked by IRF8 expression in hematopoietic stem cells and multipotent progenitors. Nat Immunol. 2017.
- Rocha PP, Raviram R, Fu Y, Kim J, Luo VM, Aljoufi A, et al. A Damage-Independent Role for 53BP1 that Impacts Break Order and Igh Architecture during Class Switch Recombination. Cell Rep. 2016.
- Lee J, Breton G, Oliveira TY, Zhou YJ, Aljoufi A, et al., Restricted dendritic cell and monocyte progenitors in human cord blood and bone marrow. J Exp Med. 2015.
Timeline
Scientist II
BlueRock Therapeutics
07.2022 - 08.2023
Graduate Research Assistant
Indiana University-Purdue University, IUPUI
06.2017 - 07.2022
Research Technician
Columbia University, Kang Liu
02.2014 - 06.2016
Research Technician
New York University, Jane Skok
02.2013 - 01.2014
PhD - Microbiology and Immunology
Indiana University
MD - Medicine
Cairo University
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