Dr. Salar Bakhtiyari

Dr. Salar Bakhtiyari is currently a Research Associate (Faculty) in Dr. Yao Yao’s laboratory at the University of South Florida. His academic journey began with a bachelor’s degree in biology, where he developed a strong interest in biochemistry and molecular biology, particularly in their applications for understanding disease mechanisms. This passion led him to pursue both a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry at Tarbiat Modares University, where he specialized in molecular signaling pathways and biomarker discovery for diseases such as diabetes and cancer.

With over 15 years of academic and research experience, Dr. Bakhtiyari has held positions as a Professor at Ilam University of Medical Sciences and as a Research Associate at Northwestern University. Throughout his career, he has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications and contributed significantly to advancing biochemical and molecular research.

Dr. Bakhtiyari joined Dr. Yao’s lab in August 2024, where his research focuses on the role of laminin α5 in microglia following ischemic stroke. Using CX3CR1-Cre and CSF1R-Cre mouse models, he investigates how laminin α5 deletion affects microglial activation and blood–brain barrier permeability.

His extensive technical expertise spans a wide range of molecular and cellular biology methods, including omics analyses, qPCR, ELISA, Western blotting, immunofluorescence, co-immunoprecipitation, EMSA, molecular cloning, RNA interference, lentiviral/AAV transduction, and metabolic assays (ECAR/OCR). He is also proficient in cell culture, stereotaxic surgery, transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO), immunohistochemistry, and flow cytometry. In addition, he is skilled in data analysis using GraphPad Prism, SPSS, ImageJ, and various bioinformatics tools, enabling him to integrate complex datasets and drive innovative research within Dr. Yao’s lab.