Biography
Abbas Jafari finished his PhD in Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine from University of Southern Denmark in 2012.
During PhD studies, he has been engaged in different projects aiming at better understanding of the biological characteristics of skeletal (mesenchymal) stem cells (MSC) and the mechanisms regulating their fate determination. He identified PRKG1 as a novel inhibitor of osteoblast differentiation and bone formation by MSC and indicated that pharmacological targeting of PRKG1 enhances in vivo bone formation and regeneration of skeletal defects.
During the PhD studies, he also developed a platform for high-throughput screening of bioactive compounds with regulatory function on osteogenesis. He successfully employed this platform in different studies (e.g. functional screening of human Kinome) to identify novel regulators of MSC differentiation toward osteoblast lineage.
During his post-doc, he identified TAFA2 as a novel chemokine involved in recruiting osteoblastic cells to the site of fracture.
He also studied the role Asparagine Endopeptidase in regulation of osteoblast differentiation and bone formation and investigated its possible involvement in pathophysiology of post-menopausal osteoporosis.
Currently, he is Assistant Professor at University of Copenhagen, Institute of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, where he is engaged in undergraduate teaching at the medical school. His current research is related to understanding the pathogenesis of inflammation-induced bone loss, as observed in e.g. osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, ageing, multiple myeloma, obesity.
Awards
- 09/09/2020Best poster presentation award, 6th International meeting on Bone Marrow Adiposity, Virtual.
- 30/11/2018Best presentation award, joint seminar of Steno Diabetes Center, Odense (STDCO) and the Endocrine Research Unit (EFE), Odense University Hospital.
- 16/09/2016Young investigator travel award, American Society of Bone & Mineral Research (ASBMR), Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
- 21/11/2016Novo Nordisk Foundation’s distinguished presentation award, NNF centers’ cluster day for Junior Researchers, Novo Nordisk Foundation, Hellerup, Denmark
- 10/11/2016Best presentation award at Danish Stem Cell Society Conference, Rungsted, Denmark.
- 30/05/2014Best presentation award, Danish Bone Society annual conference, Copenhagen, Denmark.
- 17/05/2014New Investigator Travel Award, 41st Annual Congress of European Calcified Tissue Society, Prague, Czech Republic.
- 07/05/2011New Investigator Award, 3rd joint meeting of European Calcified Tissue Society & International Bone and Mineral Society, Athens, Greece
- 08/05/2011Best presentation award, NI seimnar, 3rd joint meeting of European Calcified Tissue Society & International Bone and Mineral Society, Athens, Greece.
List of 5 Best Publications
- Myeloma-Modified Adipocytes Exhibit Metabolic Dysfunction and a Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotypehttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33218968/
- Phosphoproteomic profiling reveals a defined genetic program for osteoblastic lineage commitment of human bone marrow-derived stromal stem cells.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31831592/
- TAFA2 Induces Skeletal (Stromal) Stem Cell Migration Through Activation of Rac1-p38 Signalinghttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30485583/
- Legumain Regulates Differentiation Fate of Human Bone Marrow Stromal Cells and Is Altered in Postmenopausal Osteoporosishttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28162997/
- Pharmacological Inhibition of Protein Kinase G1 Enhances Bone Formation by Human Skeletal Stem Cells Through Activation of RhoA-Akt Signalinghttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25858613/