Fatir Qureshi, PhD

Dr. Qureshi was recruited to the Adams Center from the Whitehead Institute of MIT in 2025. He received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2022 under the mentorship of Dr. Juergen Hahn. His dissertation, Addressing Research Challenges Among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Using Statistical and Machine Learning Techniques, resulted in seven publications and a pending international patent application.

Dr. Qureshi completed postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Olivia Corradin at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Biology and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, supported by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Bits to Bytes postdoctoral sponsorship. During this time, he investigated epigenetic mechanisms underlying opioid use disorder, explored the role of microglia in Alzheimer’s disease and autism, and developed statistical frameworks for metagenomic data analysis. His research has been highlighted in presentations at the Whitehead Innovation Initiative Seminar series, the New Jersey Institute of Technology Biomedical Engineering Seminar Series, and the American Society for Microbiology Junior Award lecture series.

Dr. Qureshi integrates cutting-edge artificial intelligence approaches with large-scale biological datasets to uncover how genetic differences shape Parkinson’s disease progression. Drawing on profiles of more than ten million brain cells across 90 cell types, his work reveals how subtle DNA variations influence gene activity to drive neurodegeneration. By applying these insights to patient data, Dr. Qureshi aims to identify the genetic factors most strongly linked to risk and progression, laying the foundation for personalized prediction, diagnosis, and treatment. Through this work, he is advancing precision medicine toward a future where Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases can be understood and treated at the individual level.