Nima Sharifai, MD, PhD

• 2015: Ph.D., Neuroscience, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL
• 2017: M.D., University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL
• 2021: Residency and Fellowship, Anatomic and Neuropathology, Washington University in St. Louis/Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, MO
• 2022: Fellowship, Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Pathology, Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, GA

My background and interest has long been in neuroscience, from investigating transcription factors spurring axon regeneration as an undergraduate to my graduate studies on the spatiotemporal dynamics of protein-protein interactions regulating dendrite morphogenesis. During my postgraduate training in Anatomic and Neuropathology, I enjoyed the intricacies of surgical neuropathology, including the booming field of molecular neuro-oncology and its growing role in diagnosing and treating central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Previously singular groups of CNS tumors are increasingly being recognized as distinct entities. As a neuropathologist, I have a strong interest in helping create and utilize molecular-clinical datasets to help refine our diagnostic classifications, as these efforts will ultimately improve patient care. My research interests include investigating the respective roles of tumor cell biology and tumor microenvironment in the progression of high-grade gliomas. 

I also completed fellowship training in Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Pathology, and have studied oncogenic mechanisms in tumors of the gastrointestinal tract and liver, including current work investigating molecular alterations present before and after malignant transformation of hepatic adenomas. 

Yu H, Sharifai N, Jiang K, Wang F, Teodoro G., Farris AB, Kong J. (2022). Artificial intelligence based liver portal tract region identification and quantification with transplant biopsy whole-slide images. Computers in Biology and Medicine, 150:106089, 2022

Cler S, Sharifai N, Baker B, Dahiya S, Clifford DB, Dowling JL, Pipkorn P, Yaeger L, Chicoine MR. “IgG4-related disease of the skull and skull base: A systematic review and report of two cases.” World Neurosurgery. 150: 179-96, 2021.

Sharifai N, Abro B, Chen J, Cao D. “Napsin A is a highly sensitive marker for nephrogenic adenoma: an immunohistochemical study with a specificity test in genitourinary tumors.” Human Pathology. 102:23-32, 2020.

Lee JC, Sharifai N, Dahiya S, Kleinschmidt-Demasters BK, Rosenblum MK, Reis GF, Samuel D, Siongco AM, Santi M, Storm PB, Ferris SP, Bollen AW, Pekmezci M, Solomon DA, Tihan T, Perry A. “Clinicopathologic features of anaplastic myxopapillary ependymomas.” Brain Pathology. 29:75–84, 2019.

Sharifai N*, Samarajeewa H*, Kamiyama D, Deng T, Boulina M, Chiba A. “Imaging dynamic molecular signaling by the Cdc42 GTPase within the developing CNS.” PLoS ONE. 9(2):e88870, 2014.