Behnaz Mansoori

Graduate Student

Behnaz’s passion for biology began in high school, driven by her curiosity about how living systems work. She pursued this interest by earning her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Zanjan, Iran. After graduating, she spent three years teaching biology, an experience that allowed her to combine her love of science with her enthusiasm for teaching and helping others learn.

Wanting to explore biology at a deeper molecular level, Behnaz pursued a Master’s degree in Genetics at Tarbiat Modares University, Iran. Her master’s research focused on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), where she investigated how extracellular vesicles derived from mesenchymal stem cells influence tumor progression.

After completing her MS’s degree, Behnaz joined the Immunology Research Center (IRC) in Tabriz, Iran, where she gained extensive hands-on experience in biomedical research and expanded her expertise in immunology and cancer biology. During this time, she became actively involved in scientific collaborations and contributed to multiple publications in cancer biology.

In 2023, Behnaz joined the joint Oncology and Cancer Biology Ph.D. program at Saint Joseph’s University and the Wistar Institute. From April 2024 to August 2026, she worked in Dr. Rahul Shinde’s lab, studying how metabolites and metabolic pathways influence immune cell function in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). This experience deepened her interest in tumor metabolism, cancer immunology, and the complex interactions between cancer and immune cells within the tumor microenvironment. In September 2026, Behnaz began a new chapter in her scientific career by joining Dr. Katherine Aird’s lab. Her current research focuses on understanding the molecular connections among cellular senescence, metabolism, and the immune system in cancer.

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PpTKHaQAAAAJ&hl=en

bemansoori@wistar.org