Q | Write a brief introduction to yourself including the lab you work in and your research background.
I am Ali Ajam, an MD and postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Babak Razani’s lab at the University of Pittsburgh. My background bridges clinical medicine and research, with a focus on immunometabolism and cardiovascular disease. I design translational studies that connect cellular discoveries with human trials to advance precision prevention in heart disease.
Q | How did you first get interested in science and/or your field of research?
My path to science started with a shock at home. While I was preparing for Iran’s nationwide university entrance exam, my father suffered a massive heart attack. A cardiologist at the end of his shift rushed him to the catheterization lab and spent hours saving his life. That day gave me a clear purpose: to understand and prevent heart disease. I placed second nationally on the exam, entered medical school, and planned to be a clinician only. Then, in my final year, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived and showed how quickly new threats can upend health. I saw how careful studies—done in cells, animals, and people—can reshape practice, save lives, and prepare us for the next unknown. I decided to train as a physician–scientist so I could translate discoveries into better care for patients like my father.
Q | Tell us about your favorite research project you’re working on.
My first project here focused on cholesterol: Why do some people still suffer heart attacks even when their LDL cholesterol—the “bad” cholesterol—is at guideline-defined normal levels? We suspected that the answer lies not just in the amount of LDL, but in what cholesterol does once it enters immune cells. Our work shows that LDL-derived cholesterol can activate harmful stress signals inside these cells, weakening the stability of artery plaques and increasing the risk of rupture. Building on that foundation, I expanded into nutrition. We are running a randomized, crossover clinical trial to test whether the source of protein affects those same cellular pathways. This project explores whether nutrition influences heart disease through more precise mechanisms than broad macronutrient categories, moving us closer to a model of personalized, preventive care. Working at the intersection of basic science and human trials has taught me how powerful it can be to bridge the bench and the bedside. It has also given me a richer perspective on cardiovascular disease and the possibilities for truly precision prevention.
Q | What do you find most exciting about your research project?
The most exciting stretch has been taking a translational study from idea to impact. I sketched the question, wrote the protocol, navigated ethics approvals, and built the team. Then I did the hands-on work: recruiting participants, coordinating with nurses and cath-lab staff, drawing and processing blood, and designing analyses that line up with our cellular and mouse findings. Seeing the first readouts arrive and watching the lab and clinic “talk” to each other was electric. It turned abstract hypotheses into signals we could act on, and it taught me how much of science is logistics, empathy, and persistence. Closing that loop from bench to bedside (and back again) convinced me this is the career I want: Research that improves prevention, one carefully run study at a time.
Q | If you could be a laboratory instrument, which one would you be and why?
I’d be a portable electrocardiogram (ECG) machine. It’s simple, fast, and quietly powerful. A few stickers and wires turn tiny electrical ripples into a picture that can steer life-saving decisions. An ECG meets patients where they are—at the bedside, in a clinic, or in a field tent—and translates complexity into clarity without fuss. That resonates with my path in cardiology and prevention, and with the moment a cardiologist read an ECG and changed my family’s story. Like a good collaborator, an ECG listens first, captures the signal cleanly, and shares it in a way everyone on the team can use, from nurses to scientists to physicians. That’s the role I try to play in the lab: practical, precise, and focused on insights that matter right now.
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