Bio

Post-Doc in Oncology, Radiology, Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University 2020-2021Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia 2020B.S. in Biomedical Engineering (Honors), Virginia Commonwealth University 2015

"We are working at the nexus of therapeutic ultrasound, advanced imaging, and tumor immunology to design and deploy precision cancer immunotherapy paradigms."

Natasha Sheybani, PhD

Dr. Sheybani leads a translational research program centered on innovating tools and paradigms for non-invasive precision cancer management. Specifically, her group seeks to advance the role of focused ultrasound (FUS) - a disruptive, emerging strategy for non-invasive, non-ionizing, and precisely targeted deposition of acoustic energy into tumor tissues – for immuno-modulation and immunotherapy delivery in solid cancers of the brain and periphery (e.g. glioblastoma, metastatic breast cancer). With the goal of ushering image-guided therapies like FUS into the burgeoning era of precision immuno-oncology, Dr. Sheybani’s lab also applies approaches in systems biology and imaging informatics to advance the role of other non-invasive strategies like liquid biopsy and multimodality imaging techniques (e.g. MRI, immuno-PET), respectively, with the intent of informing risk stratification, therapeutic monitoring, and individualized treatment paradigms involving FUS and/or cancer immunotherapy. The work of the Sheybani lab interfaces closely with multiple ongoing clinical trials at UVA that are evaluating FUS immunotherapy in metastatic breast cancer and other solid tumor settings.

Natasha Sheybani earned her B.S. (with Honors) in Biomedical Engineering as a Eugene P. Trani Scholar at Virginia Commonwealth University. She then completed her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia, with the support of an NSF Graduate Research Fellow and Robert R. Wagner Fellowship. As a graduate student, she also became UVA’s first recipient of The NCI Predoctoral-to-Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award (F99/K00). Dr. Sheybani completed her postdoctoral fellowship in Oncology, Biomedical Data Science and Radiology at Stanford School of Medicine, and in tandem, served as a Senior Scientist at the Focused Ultrasound Foundation. In 2021, Dr. Sheybani returned to UVA BME under the support of an NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (DP5). Dr. Sheybani holds courtesy appointments in Radiology & Medical Imaging and Neurosurgery at UVA, as well as a Visiting Instructorship in Oncology at Stanford. She has been previously recognized in health news website STAT’s annual list of Wunderkinds and, in 2022, was elected to Forbes Magazine's "30 Under 30" List in Science.

Join Us
The Sheybani Lab is currently recruiting at all levels. Interested candidates are encouraged to reach out to Dr. Sheybani directly at sheybani@virginia.edu.

Awards

  • Forbes 30 Under 30 (Science) 2022
  • National Institutes of Health Director’s Early Independence Award 2021
  • STAT Wunderkind 2020
  • Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, Young Investigator Award 2020
  • National Institutes of Health NCI Predoctoral-to-Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award (F99/K00) 2018
  • Focused Ultrasound Foundation, Rising Star Award | International Society for Therapeutic Ultrasound, Young Investigator Award | International Symposium on Focused Ultrasound, Young Investigator Award 2018
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship 2016

Research Interests

  • Targeted Drug and Gene Delivery
  • Cancer Immunotherapy
  • Biomedical and Molecular Imaging
  • Biomedical Data Sciences
  • Precision Medicine

Sheybani Lab 2022.

In the News

Selected Publications

  • Profiling of the Tumor-Immune Landscape in Murine Glioblastoma following Blood Brain/Tumor Barrier Disruption with MR Image-guided Focused Ultrasound ABS Journal of Neuro-Oncology (Special Issue: Focused Ultrasound in Neuro-Oncology) (2021). Sheybani ND, Witter AR, Garrison WJ, Miller GW, Bullock TNJ, Price, RJ
  • Functional Intersections Between Extracellular Vesicles and Oncolytic Therapies ABS Trends in Pharmacological Sciences (2021).Clark RA, Garman ZG, Price RJ, Sheybani ND
  • ImmunoPET-informed sequence for focused ultrasound-targeted mCD47 blockade controls glioma ABS Journal of Controlled Release (2021). Sheybani ND, Breza VR, Paul S, McCauley KS, Berr SS, Miller GW, Neumann KD, Price RJ
  • Combination of Thermally Ablative Focused Ultrasound with Gemcitabine Controls Breast Cancer via Adaptive Immunity ABS Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (2020). Sheybani ND*, Witter AR*, Thim EA, Yagita H, Bullock TNJ, Price RJ
  • Focused Ultrasound Hyperthermia Modulates Release and Immunostimulatory Capacity of Glioma-Derived Extracellular Vesicles ABS Theranostics (2020). Sheybani ND, Batts AJ, Mathew AS, Thim EA, Price RJ
  • Perspectives on Recent Progress in Focused Ultrasound Immunotherapy ABS Theranostics (2019). Sheybani ND and Price RJ
  • Focused Ultrasound Immunotherapy for Central Nervous System Pathologies: Challenges and Opportunities ABS Theranostics (2017). Curley CT*, Sheybani ND*, Bullock TN, Price RJ

Featured Grants & Projects

  • NIH DP5 OD031846


    Immunoengineering Next-Generation Cancer Therapies with Focused Ultrasound