Parastoo ("Parry") Hashemi (born 1980) is an Iranian-British neural engineer at Imperial College London.

Parastoo Hashemi

Hashemi's research develops and applies sensors for brain measurements of neurotransmitters in the context of mental illness etiology, diagnosis and treatment.[1][2]

Life and academic career

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Early life

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Hashemi was born in Tehran, Iran and immigrated with her family to the United Kingdom, as a child, in 1986. She grew up in Durham, UK and attended Belmont Comprehensive school and Durham Johnston 6th Form College.

Hashemi graduated with a first class Master in Science (MSci) degree in chemistry from King's College London in 2003.[2] She received her PhD in Bioengineering from Imperial College London in 2007 under the mentorship of Dr. Martyn Boutelle.[2][3] The focus of her Ph.D. research was to develop online microdialysis techniques for monitoring humans with traumatic brain injury.[2]

Hashemi moved to the United States in 2007 to perform her post-doctoral work with Dr. R. Mark Wightman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[2][3] The focus of her post-doctoral research was to develop a selective method for in vivo detection for brain serotonin.[2][4]

Positions held

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Hashemi held an assistant professorship in the department of Chemistry at Wayne State University[2] from 2011 to 2015 and in the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of South Carolina[2] from 2015-2022 where she was tenured in 2017. Hashemi continues to run her lab as a Reader in Brain Diagnostics and Therapeutics in the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London[5] since 2019.[6]

Research

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Hashemi has pioneered tools for measurements of serotonin in the brain,[2][7][8][9] a neurotransmitter important in the pathology of depression. Her team is using these tools in a variety of models to better understand, diagnose and treat mental disorders, with a focus on depression.[10]

Notable awards

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  • 2019 CAMS Fellow (Community for Analytical Measurement Science)
  • 2018 Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry (SEAC) Royce W. Murray Award[11]
  • 2018 Society of Pittsburgh Chemists Pittcon Achievement Award[12]
  • 2018 USC Breakthrough Stars Award[13]
  • 2017 Midwestern Universities Analytical Chemistry Conference Young Investigator Travel Award
  • 2017 International Society for Neurochemistry Brain in Flux Symposium Young Faculty Travel Award
  • 2017 NSF CAREER Award[14]
  • 2015 Eli Lilly Young Investigator Award in Analytical Chemistry
  • 2013 Masao Horiba Award for Analytical Chemistry[15]

Notable papers

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References

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  1. ^ "Parastoo Hashemi: Tackling Complex Biological and Environmental Problems". 2 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "CV of Parastoo Hashemi" (PDF).
  3. ^ a b "Chemistry Tree - Parastoo Hashemi Family Tree".
  4. ^ Hashemi, Parastoo; Dankoski, Elyse C.; Petrovic, Jelena; Keithley, Richard B.; Wightman, R. Mark (2009). "Voltammetric Detection of 5-Hydroxytryptamine Release in the Rat Brain". Analytical Chemistry. 81 (22): 9462–9471. doi:10.1021/ac9018846. PMC 2783829. PMID 19827792.
  5. ^ "Academic staff and research fellows | Faculty of Engineering | Imperial College London".
  6. ^ "The Bioengineering Immuno-Pathology Network at Imperial College London". Imperial College London Bioengineering Page for Immuno-Pathology Network. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  7. ^ Wood, Kevin M.; Zeqja, Anisa; Nijhout, H. Frederik; Reed, Michael C.; Best, Janet; Hashemi, Parastoo (2014). "Voltammetric and mathematical evidence for dual transport mediation of serotonin clearance in vivo". Journal of Neurochemistry. 130 (3): 351–359. doi:10.1111/jnc.12733. ISSN 1471-4159. PMC 4107184. PMID 24702305.
  8. ^ Abdalla, Aya; Atcherley, Christopher W.; Pathirathna, Pavithra; Samaranayake, Srimal; Qiang, Beidi; Peña, Edsel; Morgan, Stephen L.; Heien, Michael L.; Hashemi, Parastoo (2017-09-07). "In Vivo Ambient Serotonin Measurements at Carbon-Fiber Microelectrodes". Analytical Chemistry. 89 (18): 9703–9711. doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.7b01257. ISSN 0003-2700. PMC 5837047. PMID 28795565.
  9. ^ Saylor, Rachel A.; Hersey, Melinda; West, Alyssa; Buchanan, Anna Marie; Berger, Shane N.; Nijhout, H. Frederik; Reed, Michael C.; Best, Janet; Hashemi, Parastoo (2019). "In vivo Hippocampal Serotonin Dynamics in Male and Female Mice: Determining Effects of Acute Escitalopram Using Fast Scan Cyclic Voltammetry". Frontiers in Neuroscience. 13: 362. doi:10.3389/fnins.2019.00362. ISSN 1662-453X. PMC 6499219. PMID 31110471.
  10. ^ Hersey, Melinda; Samaranayake, Srimal; Berger, Shane N.; Tavakoli, Navid; Mena, Sergio; Nijhout, H. Frederik; Reed, Michael C.; Best, Janet; Blakely, Randy D.; Reagan, Lawrence P.; Hashemi, Parastoo (2021-07-28). "Inflammation-Induced Histamine Impairs the Capacity of Escitalopram to Increase Hippocampal Extracellular Serotonin". Journal of Neuroscience. 41 (30): 6564–6577. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2618-20.2021. ISSN 0270-6474. PMC 8318079. PMID 34083254.
  11. ^ "Awards Information - Charles N. Reilley, Y.I., and Travel".
  12. ^ "Pittcon Announces 2018 Award Recipients for Outstanding Achievements in Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy". 2 October 2017.
  13. ^ "2018 Breakthrough Awards Cover the Academic Spectrum - Office of the Vice President for Research | University of South Carolina".
  14. ^ "NSF Award Search: Award#1654111 - CAREER: The fundamental principles of modified carbon fiber microelectrodes as speciation sensors".
  15. ^ "2013 | Masao Horiba Awards / 堀場雅夫賞".
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