Amirhossein Moghtader's interest in the future of medicine began with vision tests.
Prior to coming to the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME), Moghtader studied health sciences at McMaster University. In his undergraduate program, he highly valued his clinical work, where he conducted school vision screenings through the McMaster Pediatric Eye Research Group and referred children with potential vision concerns to local optometrists for further evaluation and care.
The role gave Moghtader a desire to find out how these issues, like the ones he saw in children, could be more effectively treated and prevented.
“I wanted to get to the root of the problem and find ways to solve that,” Moghtader said.
It was the desire to find the roots of problems through research that brought Moghtader to Chicago, but before he joined UChicago PME, he spent time at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) in an ocular surface regeneration lab, working with various physician-scientists and engineering teams from other universities. Here Moghtader was well-suited to dive into the causes and cutting-edge treatments of eye disorders, but still he found opportunities to keep in touch with the clinical side of things.
“My PI allowed me to get involved with his clinical trial work as well. Being able to get involved with that, seeing the work go from bench to bedside, was really an impactful experience.”
Being able to see the whole process, from the development of treatments in the lab to their application in the clinic, cemented Amirhossein’s determination to become a physician-scientist and brought him from UIC to UChicago PME.
Amirhossein joined the Master of Engineering program in the Bio- and Immunoengineering Track. There he was able to stay in touch with the laboratory and clinical work he’s passionate about, while also learning more about the business side of the medical industry.
“Getting treatments or drugs out there, actually in the clinic, is much more difficult than people understand, and there’s intricacy involved.”
By pairing his clinical experience with the industry-focused perspective he has gained in the program’s innovation leadership courses and a UChicago Booth course, Amirhossein wants to better understand how promising therapies can move from scientific discovery into clinical practice and reach the patients who need them.
Since completing the program, Moghtader has continued pursuing that intersection of research and industry at BioMed X, where he works on next-generation approaches to ocular therapeutics.
In his free time throughout the program, he’s enjoyed participating in extracurricular activities, such as the campus chess club, but he’s also taken time to volunteer in a triage role at CommunityHealth, a free clinic offering care to underserved communities. Amirhossein hopes that the skills he’s built across this program and beyond will help create a world in which care is accessible, innovative, and cost-effective.
“You’ve got to know more than just the science to make a goal like that happen.”
--Learn more about the Master of Engineering program at UChicago PME