Bioinformatician · Wellcome Sanger Institute

Adib MirakiFeriz.

Decoding the
language of cells.

Exploring the intersection of machine learning, single-cell genomics, and spatial transcriptomics at the Lotfollahi Lab.

Cambridge, United Kingdom
01 / CELLULAR INTELLIGENCEGENES · CELLS · TISSUES
DNA / RNAAI representationsCell neighborhoodsPerturbation → trajectories
Illustrative model · synthetic data
Machine learningSingle-cell genomicsSpatial transcriptomicsPerturbation modeling

01   /   ABOUT ME

Giving cells a
digital voice.

I study how cells behave, interact, and evolve across different biological contexts.

I'm a Bioinformatician at the Lotfollahi Lab, Wellcome Sanger Institute. I develop and apply AI-driven frameworks to uncover cellular heterogeneity and perturbation responses in complex tissues.

My research brings together machine learning, single-cell genomics, and spatial transcriptomics to decode the language of cells — and let data science do the talking.

OUTSIDE THE LAB Football CyclingEndless curiosity
01 /

Single-cell & spatial transcriptomics

02 /

Perturbation
modeling

03 /

Tumor
immunology

04 /

Deep learning
for genomics

02 /

Publications

Google Scholar
16 publications2022 — 2026
2026

Multi-scale modeling of human tissues from spatial transcriptomics with TERRA.

Birk S., Sanian M.V., Vahidi A., Ogden S., Jafree D.J., Miraki Feriz A.*, et al.

Full author list (57)

Birk S., Sanian M.V., Vahidi A., Ogden S., Jafree D.J., Miraki Feriz A.*, Leonardi C., Merchant A., He Z., Steele L., Boxall A., Sallese M.R., Maaskola J., Ramirez-Suastegui C., Ogut S., Rademaker K., Vijayabaskar M.S., Cakir B., Marco Salas S., Lorenzi V., Bryant J.M., Kyany'a C., Jones J.O., Rahbari R., Raghubar A.M., Stewart G.D., Rumney B., Tudor C., Patel M., Halliwell J., Chan H.M., Li T., Stanley H., Foster A.R., Memi F., Roberts K., Trinh A.L., Tuck E., Gracia T., Rai S., Adams D.J., Webb S., Prete M., Vento-Tormo R., Nilsson M., Lickert H., Theis F.J., Ardestani A., Sun J.J., Rouhani F.J., Paavolainen L., Clatworthy M.R., Bayraktar O.A., Haniffa M., Mitchell T., Bakhti M., Lotfollahi M.

bioRxiv2026Co-first authorUnder review at Nature
2026

Mapping and reprogramming human tissue microenvironments with MintFlow.

Akbarnejad A.*, Steele L.*, He Z.*, et al. · Full author list

Akbarnejad A.*, Steele L.*, He Z.*, Jafree D.J.*, Birk S.*, Leonardi C.*, Sallese M.R.*, Boxall A., Miraki Feriz A., Raghubar A.M., Vaghari D., Gopee N.H., Rademaker K., Rumney B., Tudor C., Patel M., Prete M., Makarchuk S., Lee C.Y.C., Maaskola J., Li T., Stanley H., Foster A.R., Roberts K., Trinh A.L., Villa C.E., Testa G., Mahil S., Mehrjou A., Smith C., Vakili S., Jones J.O., Stewart G.D., Clatworthy M.R., Bayraktar O.A., Mitchell T., Haniffa M., Lotfollahi M.

bioRxiv2025 preprintUnder review at Nature
2026

Integrated single cell RNA sequencing and flow cytometry analysis identifies elevated S100A6+ and S100A8+ myeloid subsets in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Derakhshani A., Di Fonte R., Porcelli L., Orang F.N., Shadbad M.A., Miraki Feriz A., et al.

Full author list (19)

Derakhshani A., Di Fonte R., Porcelli L., Orang F.N., Shadbad M.A., Miraki Feriz A., Safarpour H., Dufour A., Baradaran B., Calabrese A., Testini M., Memeo R., Di Meo G., Vincenti L., Bhardwaj S., Racanelli V., Silvestris N., Brunetti O., Azzariti A.

Clinical Immunology284:110665 · April 2026

* Equal contribution. MintFlow: 2025 preprint, listed with 2026 work.

03 /

The research journey

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Feb 2023 — Aug 2025

Research Collaborator

Lotfollahi Lab · Wellcome Sanger Institute
Remote contract · Cambridge, United Kingdom

Oct 2022 — Jan 2023

Research Intern

Sharif University of Technology
Tehran, Iran

Apr 2021 — Sep 2022

Research Assistant

Cellular & Molecular Research Center
Birjand University of Medical Sciences

EDUCATION

BSc Medical
Laboratory Sciences

Birjand University of Medical Sciences

2019 — 2023A · Top of Class

ACADEMIC SERVICE

Invited Reviewer

Briefings in Bioinformatics

Oxford University Press
04 /

Honors & recognition

2025

2nd Place · AI Hackathon

Birjand University of Medical Sciences

2023

Best Researcher of Iran among Undergraduate Students

National recognition

2023

Best Researcher

Birjand University of Medical Sciences

2022

Best Researcher

Birjand University of Medical Sciences

2022

Best Oral Presenter

9th International Congress of Medical Students

05 /

Academic references

Prof. Muzlifah Haniffa

Senior Group Leader
Wellcome Sanger Institute &
University of Cambridge

Dr. Ömer Ali Bayraktar

Group Leader
Wellcome Sanger Institute

Dr. Mohammad Lotfollahi

Group Leader · Supervisor
Wellcome Sanger Institute

References available upon request for academic and research positions.