My pronouns are he/him
I will be starting my new role as a Wellcome Trust Early Career Research Fellow and Group Leader in the Department of Biology in 2025. My academic journey began with an undergraduate degree in 2015, followed by a master’s in Physics from Emory University in 2018, during which I developed an understanding of statistical physics and quantitative modelling in evolutionary biology. This also included a one-year position as a visiting graduate student in the Department of Genetics at the University of Cambridge. I later completed my DPhil in Interdisciplinary Biosciences at the University of Oxford in 2022, where my research focused on developing quantitative models to understand virus molecular evolution and its applications in pandemic preparedness and response.
My current research interests lie in developing a quantitative framework for understanding the molecular evolution of pathogens, particularly viruses with pandemic potential. The aim of my group is to integrate concepts from pathogen evolution and ecology, phylogenetics, and population genetics theory to create new tools and insights for reconstructing pathogen outbreaks, tracing their origins in non-human reservoirs, and assessing their potential to cause new epidemics or pandemics.
I am always keen to connect with dedicated and motivated researchers. If you are interested in joining us as an MBiol or DPhil student, or as a Postdoctoral researcher, please contact me at mahan.ghafari@ndm.ox.ac.uk for further information on upcoming positions. Some of our current projects include developing a quantitative framework for measuring evolutionary rates of pathogens, investigating sources of evolutionary rate variation in viruses with pandemic potential across different hosts and over time, and creating new tools for reconstructing outbreak dynamics.
