Arian Mirzarafie Ahi, PGDE

Arian Mirzarafie Ahi, PGDE is a Science Communicator, Science Writer, and Founder and Director at The A Level Biologist.

He is a PGDE-qualified biological sciences adviser who works with science and education professionals worldwide to find innovative solutions from Life Science and Educational Technology.

Arian founded The Mirzarafie Centre for Biology Excellence. MCBE is a natural philosophy, scientific communication, and speaking organization built on a legacy of training A-level biology students, supporting education and research, and applying the laws of biology to technology and philosophy. The center publishes its own newsletter, the Curious Natural Philosopher.

Arian has been the host and producer of The A Level Biologist Podcast since 2019. Based on the first A level biology hub in the world, the podcast brings the most diverse set of experiences and people in life science including scientists, business people, educators, investors, and healthcare professionals. Beyond the standard qualifications and work experience, it is the people and places that most inspired Arian that make it to his podcasts.

In 2011, Arian Founded and is Writer and Director of The A Level Biologist platform, the only EdTech for all global biology qualifications (A-level, IB, and SAT). He founded The A Level Biologist website to help United Kingdom students studying for their A-level exam in Biology.

In 2022, Arian joined the Aging Analytics Agency, a Longevity-Focused Analytical Subsidiary of the Deep Knowledge Group. The agency is the world’s premier provider of longevity industry analytics and strategic consulting services, currently serving as the primary source of analytics for the hybrid investment hedge fund Longevity.Capital and the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for Longevity.

Deep Knowledge Group is a consortium of commercial and nonprofit organizations active on many fronts in the realm of DeepTech and Frontier Technologies such as AI, Longevity, FinTech, GovTech, and InvestTech, ranging from scientific research to investment, entrepreneurship, analytics, media, philanthropy, and more.

Arian has also been Global Leadership Panel Member at Fight Cancer Global since 2019 where he has launched and hosted talks and panels with stakeholders and influenced the positive growth of the new platform. Watch Global Leadership Panel member Arian Mirzarafie Ahi: Making a significant impact to empower patients.

Previously, he was a Teacher of Science at United Learning between 2020 and 2022 and also the CREST Award Assessor for the British Science Association, where he was directly involved with student submissions and was responsible for final awards from 2017 to 2020.

Between 2014 and 2018, Arian was also YouTube Content Producer for the video content counterpart to The A Level Biologist.

Arian earned his Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Biological Sciences in 2015 from Birkbeck, University of London. He earned his Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in 2021 and his Postgraduate Diploma in Education and Leadership (PGDE) in 2022, both from Canterbury Christ Church University.

After getting out of City College Norwich in 2011 with an A-level in Biology, Arian did his research as an intern at Birkbeck in 2012 on Protein Crystallography of Hsp90. A year later, he continued at the University of Cambridge optimizing decellularization and homogenization of various tissue types for ELISA.

During his 2013 SENS Research Foundation Summer Internship, Arian worked with the research group of Dr. William Bains at the University of Cambridge, which specializes in seeking compounds for degrading Advanced Glycation End-products (AGEs). AGEs are by-products of aging that accumulate in the area between cells called the ExtraCellular Matrix (ECM). The ‘cross-linking’ of AGEs causes wrinkles, stiff joints, hypertension, blindness, and other age-related conditions.

Arian’s project focused on optimizing the decellularization step that precedes quantitation of AGEs. Read A Rapid Method for Preparing Cell-Free Extracellular Matrix and A Fast and Mild Decellularization Protocol for Obtaining Extracellular Matrix.

In 2014, he did his intern research on bioinformatics on D. melanogaster transposable elements at the University of Muenster, and finally in 2015 at the University College London where he worked on protein crystallography on the E. coli MhpD protein. He also authored the blog Principles of Evolution, where he discussed such topics as evolutionary theory, philosophy, and space travel.

In 2015, Arian was also BBK iGEM 2015 Team Member, the very first Birkbeck team to enter the international Genetically Engineered Machine competition awarded Bronze. They designed and produced plasmid constructs to transform E. coli cells. He spoke for the finale in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

His final year project at Birkbeck before graduation with BSc was on investigating protein nanocages, and throughout the years had research internships on protein crystallography, tissue engineering, and bioinformatics. After iGEM, Arian started a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Biosciences at UCL, where he did his research on the 3D biofabrication of artificial organs (Functional scaffolds for bioengineering), calibrating for 3D printing including CAD designing, and culturing human connective tissue, muscle, and bone stem cells.

Read Opportunities and Challenges in Protein Nano Cage Applications and A Fast and Mild Decellularization Protocol for Obtaining Extracellular Matrix.

In 2016, he was Ph.D. Fellow at King’s College London and University College London with his research on the role of rare codons in determining correct folding of membrane proteins. After a year, he decided to end his Ph.D. and continued as Senior Analyst at the Biogerontology Research Foundation in 2018.

Watch AI analytics and Sustainability. Read Q & A: Arian Mirzarafie Ahi.

Visit his LinkedIn profile, CleverX profile, and FindTutors profile. Follow him on Facebook, Crunchbase, and ResearchGate.