Sahar S Mahshid, Ph.D., P.Eng
Research Scientist
Founder and CEO
Beeta Biomed Inc
Research Scientist
Sunnybrook Research Institute
University of Toronto
Université de Montréal
Email: sahar.mahshid@utoronto.ca
sahar.mahshid@beetabiomed.com
Areas expertise
- Nano-Bio-materials
- Electrochemical Biosensors
- Biomarkers
- Bioengineering
- Inner Ear Research
- Disease diagnostics
- Regulatory process
- Commercialization
- Business leadership
Dr. Sahar S. Mahshid is a scientist and entrepreneur who leads the team Beeta Biomed working on commercializing a patented idea, QolorEX, from McGill University, MahshidLab. She has had her focus on the development, and translation of rapid early-stage diagnostic technologies by combining synthetic biology with advanced nanomaterials into portable devices and introducing them to real-world applications. Her team at Beeta Biomed and McGill University are working on the development of these technologies that can translate into clinical applications and eventually find their way toward commercialization.
Previously, she initiated and led the point-of-care diagnostics research in the Hearing and Balancing Regeneration Lab (Dabdoub Lab/Biological Sciences/Sunnybrook Research Institute). She received her PhD (2011) in Materials Science and Engineering from Sharif University of Technology (Tehran, Iran). During her PhD, she was a visitor scientist at the Laboratory of Biosensing/Chemometrics at Hunan University (China) for six months. In 2013, she started her postdoctoral training at Universite de Montreal in Dr. Alexis Vallee-Belisle’s lab, and soon after she was awarded the NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2014. She then developed her first patent on "Steric-hindrance hybridization systems, assays and methods associated thereto". In 2015, Dr. Mahshid moved to University of Toronto in the laboratory of Dr. Shana Kelley, where she advanced her expertise in two areas of microfabrication and regen med, along with the contribution in her second patent on small-scale sensing electrodes development. In the summer of 2018, she joined Dr. Alain Dabdoub’s laboratory, as one of the leading Regen Med labs in order to run the initiative with its focus on the discovery of inner ear biomarkers and rapid diagnosis at the point-of-care. Dr. Mahshid is a certified Professional Engineer of Ontario.
Web: Google Scholar
Web: orcid.org
Web: ResearchGate
Education
B.Sc.: Materials Science and Engineering/Extractive Metallurgy, Sharif University of Technology, Iran
M.Sc.: Materials Science and Engineering/Corrosion and Protection/Electrochemistry, Sharif University of Technology, Iran
Ph.D.: Materials Science and Engineering/Nanotechnology/Advanced Electrochemistry, Sharif University of Technology, Iran
Appointments and affiliations
Founder and CEO, Beeta Biomed Inc
Research Scientist, Biological Sciences, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Dabdoub Lab
NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toronto, Kelley Lab (2015-2018)
NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow, Département de chimie, Université de Montréal, Vallee-BelisleLab (2013-2015)
Visiting Scientist, at Hunan University, Changsha, China: Cai QingyunLab (2010)
Research Summary
Development of rapid test platforms for in-situ and real-time monitoring of analytes in complex matrices plays crucial roles in medical diagnostics, prognostics and therapeutics. Current methods for quantitative detection of disease markers, such as ELISAs, Western blots, fluorescence polarization assays, are time-consuming and multiple-step processes reliant on well-trained technicians working in fully-equipped laboratories. Inspired by innovative approaches in materials science, synthetic biology, biochemistry, electrochemistry, and fabrication techniques, Dr. Mahshid's research develop biosensing platforms, for rapid multiplexing detection of various biomarkers/analytes for point-of-care diagnosis, for applications related to healthcare and the environment.