Ask our Alumni: Ali Shariati

This week, alumni Ali Shariati returned to the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research for the first time since completing his PhD here 10 years ago! We caught up about his time in Leuven and what he's been up to since.?

You did your PhD from 2008 to 2013, under the supervision of Bart De Strooper. What lead you to doing a PhD here??

I grew up in Iran and completed my Undergraduate and Master's education there. When I finished, I came to Europe for a few graduate school interviews, to explore the possibility of continuing my science journey here. I ended up in an interview with Bart De Strooper: the project and my interests aligned really well, and there seemed to be a very vibrant scientific community at KU Leuven and VIB. Bart offered me the position – I was so excited! ?

How do you look back on your time in Leuven???

This is actually my first time in Leuven since I finished my PhD almost a decade ago! It's pretty exciting to be back. I would say Leuven is a really special place to do a PhD, in terms of both the scientific environment and the city itself. The resources and support I had access to during my time here was impressive, compared to other programs I've seen since. It allowed me to have the freedom to explore my ideas and do any type of experiment I wanted to. I miss it!?

What valuable lessons did you learn during your time as a PhD in Bart's lab??

I learned a ton during my time here that I've taken with me on my academic journey since. Scientifically, I learned the importance of observation and to be able to think critically about experiments and look at them from all angles. I also picked up a solid work ethic during my PhD. Finally, I learned a lot of soft skills here. We had several workshops – through both VIB and KU Leuven – on topics like how to write about or present your research. These skills were super helpful for me later on, for instance when interviewing for a postdoc or faculty position. ?

We just had our annual PhD Class and we'll have our PhD Symposium later this month. In these events, the 2023 batch of PhD students starting at CBD and NERF get to know each other and the research and technology at the centers. What advice would you give them at the start of their PhD journey here??

It is not easy to give general advice but I would say: appreciate your time here and enjoy the journey! It's a very special place. Once again, I think that the opportunities that are available here are pretty unique, in terms of both the science as well as being able to experience a new environment and culture. And that's also reflected in university rankings, with KU Leuven being in the top 50 worldwide. It's a really good place to do science.?

What did you move on to after finishing your PhD??

I went to Stanford University right after I finished my PhD. My scientific interests were developed in Bart's lab, where I'd become interested in how cells make decisions. I ended up working in a group that was very interdisciplinary. My postdoc advisor, Dr. Jan Skotheim, has been trained in applied math. It therefore was an unusual choice in some ways for someone who had been trained in neurobiology and neuroscience, to suddenly move to a lab that was working on trying to understand the principles of yeast cell fate decision-making. But I noticed conceptual alignment between my thinking and theirs, so I wrote to Jan and he was excited about the possibility of moving on to studying cell fate in other biological systems. I ended up studying cell fate at Stanford for four years of really exciting science and fantastic people.?

Do you have any advice for people transitioning from a PhD to a postdoc position??

I would definitely suggest changing institutions if you can, to gain a different experience and exposure. On top of changing institutions, I also chose to change fields. In my experience I've seen that people who do this often learn more: you're forced to quickly catch up with a new vocabulary of concepts and terminology, and you'll have a more diverse training overall – although this doesn't guarantee success! Over the years, I've seen people take different trajectories and have seen successes and failures: there's no one-size-fits-all approach. You have to do what's best for you.?

You now run your own lab. Can you tell me more about that??

After my postdoc, I applied for a faculty job, and luckily ended up not too far from Stanford – at the University of California, Santa Cruz, just one hour away. I've been running my own lab since 2019. We want to know how individual cells make decisions, how cells collectively make decisions, or whether we can control those decisions. We want to understand the principles driving how cells cooperate together to form higher order structures, and whether we can engineer their behaviour to control the structures that emerge.?I'm fortunate to be able to train a new generation of educators and researchers. It's particularly valuable to be able to train people who can't get those kinds of opportunities outside of academia. ??

Do you have anything else you'd like to share??

Yes! I'd like to thank my lab members and all of my mentors who helped me navigate my scientific career along the way.?