Dr Pouria Akhbari

Pouria began his career as a veterinarian in clinical practice, specialising in disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, surgical operations, and zoonotic disease control, before transitioning into a role as a diagnostic laboratory manager. Driven by a strong interest in infectious diseases, he pursued an MSc in Medical Microbiology in 2011, followed by a PhD in Molecular Virology under the supervision of Professors Des Tobin and Jim Boyne at the Centre for Skin Sciences, University of Bradford.

In 2017, Pouria joined Islet Biology Exeter (IBEx) at the University of Exeter Medical School as a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA). Working under the mentorship of Professors Sarah Richardson and Noel Morgan, his research focused on virus-host interactions of enteroviruses and the immunopathology of Type 1 Diabetes.

Transitioning to the biotech sector in 2021, Pouria joined SENISCA, a spin-out from the University of Exeter Medical School, initially as a Senior Scientist and later as a Principal Scientist. In this role, he led assay and platform development for high-throughput screening of small molecules and antisense oligonucleotides aimed at cellular rejuvenation and age-related diseases. His work at SENISCA was instrumental in securing a major co-development programme in collaboration with L’Oréal.

Pouria returned to academic research in 2026, joining Professor Elaine Bignell’s laboratory as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (PDRF). He is currently working on a major drug discovery programme targeting multidrug-resistant fungal infections, a high-impact collaboration with the Dundee Drug Discovery Unit (DDU) and GSK.