Share

Alireza Haghighi

M.D., L.L.B., D.Phil., FACMG

Chief Executive and Director, Harvard Medical School International Center for Genetic Disease

Principal Investigator and Director, Bahrain National Genome Program at Harvard

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Haghighi is an Assistant Professor and clinician-scientist in the Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He is internationally recognized for his leadership in projects aimed at improving health and well-being worldwide. Dr. Haghighi regularly advises government leaders on national health policies and initiatives. He is an American Board-Certified Geneticist. He completed his graduate and clinical training at the University of Oxford, and Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Haghighi is the Chief Executive and Founding Director of the Harvard Medical School International Center for Genetic Disease (iCGD), and the Principal Investigator (PI) and Director of the National Genome Project of Bahrain (Phase I: ~$10M) at Harvard.

For his research, he investigates the genetic basis of human disease, with a focus on cardiovascular disease (e.g., cardiomyopathies, and congenital heart disease) and translating these research discoveries into better diagnostics and improved patient care. He is the PI on two NIH- and AHA-funded projects for investigating the genetics of unexplained cardiomyopathies in adults and children. He is also the Director of the GEnetics NEtwork in the Middle East and Africa (GENE-ME), a large clinical research network for genetic studies in those regions that aims to: (1) identify novel disease-causing mutations and genotype-phenotype correlations, and (2) advance genomic medicine in the Middle East and Africa through capacity building.

Dr. Haghighi has led many international projects to advance medical science in different countries and improve the health and well-being of people. He is the Founding President of the Advancement Initiative for Medicine and Science (AIMS). This global foundation brings together academics and physicians and is dedicated to advancing medical science and healthcare around the world.

Among the many prestigious awards and honors, he has received for his scientific and international contributions are the Global Health Pioneer Award (for his pivotal role in enhancing the quality of life through innovative strategies and capacity-building initiatives), and the International Genetic Disorders Prevention Award (for outstanding contributions to and scientific excellence in genetic research).

Contact Infomation

Email:

ahaghighi@bwh.harvard.edu

Alireza Haghighi

M.D., L.L.B., D.Phil., FACMG

Chief Executive and Director, Harvard Medical School International Center for Genetic Disease

Principal Investigator and Director, Bahrain National Genome Program at Harvard

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Haghighi is an Assistant Professor and clinician-scientist in the Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He is internationally recognized for his leadership in projects aimed at improving health and well-being worldwide. Dr. Haghighi regularly advises government leaders on national health policies and initiatives. He is an American Board-Certified Geneticist. He completed his graduate and clinical training at the University of Oxford, and Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Haghighi is the Chief Executive and Founding Director of the Harvard Medical School International Center for Genetic Disease (iCGD), and the Principal Investigator (PI) and Director of the National Genome Project of Bahrain (Phase I: ~$10M) at Harvard.

For his research, he investigates the genetic basis of human disease, with a focus on cardiovascular disease (e.g., cardiomyopathies, and congenital heart disease) and translating these research discoveries into better diagnostics and improved patient care. He is the PI on two NIH- and AHA-funded projects for investigating the genetics of unexplained cardiomyopathies in adults and children. He is also the Director of the GEnetics NEtwork in the Middle East and Africa (GENE-ME), a large clinical research network for genetic studies in those regions that aims to: (1) identify novel disease-causing mutations and genotype-phenotype correlations, and (2) advance genomic medicine in the Middle East and Africa through capacity building.

Dr. Haghighi has led many international projects to advance medical science in different countries and improve the health and well-being of people. He is the Founding President of the Advancement Initiative for Medicine and Science (AIMS). This global foundation brings together academics and physicians and is dedicated to advancing medical science and healthcare around the world.

Among the many prestigious awards and honors, he has received for his scientific and international contributions are the Global Health Pioneer Award (for his pivotal role in enhancing the quality of life through innovative strategies and capacity-building initiatives), and the International Genetic Disorders Prevention Award (for outstanding contributions to and scientific excellence in genetic research).

Recent Publications

Bridging silicon and carbon worlds with digital twins and on-chip systems in drug discovery

Published On 2024 Dec 20

Journal article

This perspective discusses the convergence of digital twin (DT) technology and on-the-chip systems as pivotal innovations in precision medicine, substantially advancing drug discovery. DT leverages extensive health data to create dynamic virtual patient models, enabling predictive insights and optimized treatment strategies. Concurrently, on-the-chip systems from the Carbon world replicate human biological processes on microfluidic platforms, providing detailed insights into disease mechanisms...


Genetic diagnosis of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy type 1 using rare-variant linkage analysis and long-read genome sequencing

Published On 2024 Dec 13

Journal article

Facioscapulohumeral dystrophy type 1 (FSHD1) is a progressive, debilitating skeletal myopathy that requires a multimodal approach for complete molecular characterization of pathogenic genotypes. Here, we report genomic analyses of a family with suspected FSHD1. We first performed short-read genome sequencing, followed by parametric linkage analysis using rare variants to map the disease locus to a single 1.7 Mb interval on chromosome 4q35.2 with a logarithm of the odds score of 3.2. We then used...