Young ISIM scientist at Stanford University

Mustafa Ghanizada has a ten-month-long research and education programme ahead of him at Stanford University. All expenses are covered by the Danish American Research Exchange (DARE) – a study and research programme which the Lundbeck Foundation created in 2015 and has funded ever since.

Mustafa will be working in the laboratory of Professor Mark Davis, who specialises in the human immune system, and has designed a novel in vitro model for studying this system.

Mustafa Ghanizada’s Danish mentor is Professor Søren Buus from the Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen.

Why do some people develop autoimmune diseases – where the body attacks its own cells?

"The simple answer is that we don’t yet understand the biological mechanisms at play, but my research at Stanford University will be within this field," says Mustafa Ghanizada.

Mustafa Ghanizada’s research involves the study of some of the body’s T cells that potentially play a particular role in the development of autoimmune diseases. He will be working with “mini organs”, which in a number of respects act in the same way as the human body.

Mustafa is 24 years old and is studying medicine at the University of Copenhagen. He has two years left before he graduates as a doctor.

Here you can read the full article about all DARE-students and in particular more about Mustafa.