Adib Miraki Feriz
👋 About Me
I’m a Bioinformatician at the Lotfollahi Lab, Wellcome Sanger Institute, working at the intersection of machine learning, single-cell genomics, and spatial transcriptomics.
My research focuses on decoding the language of cells — predicting how they behave, interact, and evolve across different biological contexts. I develop and apply AI-driven frameworks to uncover cellular heterogeneity and perturbation responses in complex tissues.
“Giving cells a digital voice and letting data science do the talking.”
🧬 Research Interests: Single-cell & spatial transcriptomics · Perturbation modeling · Tumor immunology · Deep learning for genomics
⚽🚴 Outside the lab: Football · Cycling · Endless curiosity
🎓 Education
| Degree | Institution | Period | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| BSc Medical Laboratory Sciences | Birjand University of Medical Sciences | 2019 – 2023 | A (Top of Class) |
💼 Research Experience
🏛 Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK
On-site Bioinformatician · Lotfollahi Lab Aug 2025 – Present
🤝 Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK
Research Collaborator (Remote Contract) · Lotfollahi Lab Feb 2023 – Aug 2025
🔬 Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
Research Intern Oct 2022 – Jan 2023
🧫 Cellular & Molecular Research Center, BUMS
Research Assistant Apr 2021 – Sep 2022
📜 Publications
2026
Ly K.C.H.*, Miraki Feriz A.*, Isobe T., Vahidi A., Vaghari D., Rostron A., Quiroga Londoño M., Mende N., Vijayabaskar M.S., Moullet M., Rose Foster A., et al.
Predicting how perturbations reshape cellular trajectories with PerturbGen.
bioRxiv 2026 — ⭐ Co-first author · Under review at Nature · 📄 Paper Link
Gharaie Amirabadi D., Miraki Feriz A., Safarpour H.
Multimodal foundation models in colorectal cancer: from prediction to trustworthy clinical insight.
Briefings in Bioinformatics, Volume 27, Issue 2, March 2026 · 📄 Paper Link
Akbarnejad A.*, Steele L.*, He Z.*, Jafree D.J.*, Birk S.*, Leonardi C.*, Sallese M.R.*, Boxall A., Miraki Feriz A., Raghubar A.M., Vaghari D., Gopee N.H., Rademaker K., Rumney B., Tudor C., Patel M., Prete M., Makarchuk S., Lee C.Y.C., Maaskola J., Li T., Stanley H., Foster A.R., Roberts K., Trinh A.L., Villa C.E., Testa G., Mahil S., Mehrjou A., Smith C., Vakili S., Jones J.O., Stewart G.D., Clatworthy M.R., Bayraktar O.A., Mitchell T., Haniffa M., Lotfollahi M.
Mapping and reprogramming human tissue microenvironments with MintFlow.
bioRxiv 2025 — ⭐ Under review at Nature · 📄 Paper Link
2025
Birk S., Bonafonte-Pardàs I., Miraki Feriz A., Boxall A., Agirre E., Memi F., … & Lotfollahi M.
Quantitative characterization of cell niches in spatially resolved omics data.
Nature Genetics, 57:897–909, 2025 · 📄 Paper Link
Geravandi S., Liu H., Pahwa H., Madduri M.K., Atawneh F., Miraki Feriz A., …, Gotti D.
The Hippo terminal effector YAP boosts enterovirus replication in type 1 diabetes.
Nature Communications, 16(1):8882, 2025 · 📄 Paper Link
2024
Miraki Feriz A., Khosrojerdi A., Erfanian N., Azarkar S., Sajjadi S.M., …, Racanelli V.
Targeting the dynamic transcriptional landscape of Treg subpopulations in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: Insights from scRNA-seq with a focus on CTLA4 and TIGIT.
Immunobiology, 229(4):152822, 2024 · 📄 Paper Link
Shadbad M.A., Miraki Feriz A., Baradaran B., Safarpour H.
Tumor-infiltrating CD8+ sub-populations in primary and recurrent glioblastoma: An in-silico study.
Heliyon, 10(5):e27329, 2024 · 📄 Paper Link
Safarpour H., Ranjbaran J., Erfanian N., Nomiri S., Derakhshani A., Gerarduzzi C., Miraki Feriz A., …, Silvestris N.
Holistic exploration of CHGA and hsa-miR-137 in colorectal cancer via multi-omic data integration.
Heliyon, 2024 · 📄 Paper Link
2023
Miraki Feriz A., Khosrojerdi A., Lotfollahi M., Shamsaki N., …, Saghafi S., Leone P.
Single-cell RNA sequencing uncovers heterogeneous transcriptional signatures in tumor-infiltrated dendritic cells in prostate cancer.
Heliyon, 9(5):e15694, 2023 · 📄 Paper Link
Miraki Feriz A., Bahraini F., Khosrojerdi A., Azarkar S., …, Safarpour H.
Deciphering the immune landscape of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: A single-cell transcriptomic analysis of regulatory T cell responses to PD-1 blockade therapy.
PLOS ONE, 18(12):e0295863, 2023 · 📄 Paper Link
Erfanian N., Nasseri S., Miraki Feriz A., Safarpour H., Namaie M.H.
Characterization of Wnt signaling pathway under treatment of Lactobacillus acidophilus postbiotic in colorectal cancer using an integrated in silico and in vitro analysis.
Scientific Reports, 13(1):22988, 2023 · 📄 Paper Link
Erfanian N., Heydari A.A., Miraki Feriz A., Iañez P., Derakhshani A., …, Sahebkar A.
Deep learning applications in single-cell genomics and transcriptomics data analysis.
Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 165:115077, 2023 · 📄 Paper Link
Sanadgol N., Miraki Feriz A., Lisboa S.F., Joca S.R.
Putative role of glial cells in treatment resistance depression: An updated critical literature review and evaluation of single-nuclei transcriptomics data.
Life Sciences, 331:122025, 2023 · 📄 Paper Link
2022
Derakhshani A., Asadzadeh Z., Baradaran B., Safarpour H., Rahmani S., Leone P., Shadbad M.A., …, Miraki Feriz A., …, Ahmadi H.
The expression pattern of VISTA in the PBMCs of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients: A single-cell RNA sequencing-based study.
Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 148:112725, 2022 · 📄 Paper Link
🏆 Honors & Awards
| Year | Award |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 🥈 Rank 2nd — AI Hackathon, Birjand University of Medical Sciences |
| 2023 | 🏅 Best Researcher of Iran among Undergraduate Students (National) |
| 2023 | 🏅 Best Researcher — Birjand University of Medical Sciences |
| 2022 | 🏅 Best Researcher — Birjand University of Medical Sciences |
| 2022 | 🎤 Best Oral Presenter — 9th International Congress of Medical Students |
📝 Academic Service
- Invited Reviewer — Briefings in Bioinformatics (Oxford University Press)
🤝 References
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Prof. Muzlifah Haniffa | Senior Group Leader, Wellcome Sanger Institute & University of Cambridge |
| Dr. Ömer Ali Bayraktar | Group Leader, Wellcome Sanger Institute |
| Dr. Mohammad Lotfollahi | Group Leader, Wellcome Sanger Institute (Supervisor) |