Katayoun (Kathy) Ayasoufi, PhD, has been named assistant professor in the Duke Department of Neurosurgery, effective May 1, 2023.
Originally from Iran, Ayasoufi immigrated to the US in 2006 and attended Case Western Reserve University for undergraduate training. She then joined the Molecular Medicine PhD program and completed her doctoral training in the field of transplant immunology at Cleveland Clinic, and completed her post-doctoral training at Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, MN.
Ayasoufi is a basic science researcher whose work focuses on unraveling mechanisms of brain-injury and glioma-induced immunosuppression systemically. She and her team are currently investigating soluble mediators of immune dysfunction in mouse models of GBM. Her lab also is working on translational studies regarding GBM-induced peripheral immunosuppression. Her work is funded through an NINDS K99/R00 grant.