Waterloo, ON, Canada
$100.0/min
N/A
0
$1.67/min
Alireza Shahin, PhD
Biotech Founder | Tissue Engineering Innovator | Regenerative Medicine Strategist
📍 Kitchener, ON, Canada | 📞 +1-365-777-2586 | ✉️ alireza@itsevolved.com
📍 Masdar City, United Arab Emirates | 📞 +971-52 541 2086 |
🔗 LinkedIn | Google Scholar
💼 Eligible to work in Canada without restriction (Canadian Citizen).
💼 Authorized to work in the United Arab Emirates for the next two years under a residency visa.________________________________________
Professional Summary
Scientific entrepreneur and biotech founder with a PhD in Biomedical Engineering and a decade of experience advancing tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Founder & CEO of Evolved.Bio, a deep tech startup pioneering scaffold-free, organ-scale assembloids for clinical tissue regeneration. Proven leader in developing GMP-ready biomanufacturing, experienced in engaing with the FDA, and translating platform technologies into preclinical efficacy. Raised over $2.5M CAD in venture capital and grants, built global partnerships with CROs, CDMOs, and strategic academic and industry collaborators, and led a patent-rich innovation pipeline. Expertise spans biofabrication, machine learning, regulatory strategy, and cross-functional team leadership from concept through preclinical validation. Extensive hands-on experience with iPSC-derived cell types, including directed differentiation into myogenic, neural, and pancreatic lineages for disease modeling and therapeutic construct development.________________________________________
Key Achievements
• Raised $2M CAD in venture funding and $0.5M CAD in non-dilutive grants to advance Evolved.Bio’s pipeline.
• Developed the first organ-scale, scaffold-free assembloid platform using proprietary Anchored Cell Sheet Engineering technology.
• Completed preclinical studies demonstrating muscle regeneration in rodent volumetric muscle loss (VML) models.
• Built partnerships with academic labs, early-stage biotechs, and late-stage industry collaborators globally.
• Designed ML pipelines for histology image analysis and proteomics data.
• Established iPSC-based disease models and regenerative solutions.
• Filed 8+ patents in US, Canada, and PCT jurisdictions.
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Professional Experience
Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer: Evolved.Bio - Kitchener, ON, Canada | 2021 – Present
• Founded a VC-backed regenerative medicine startup developing organ-scale tissue constructs without biomaterials.
• Designed and led development of scaffold-free assembloid platforms using proprietary anchored cell sheet engineering.
• Directed GMP-compliant manufacturing pipeline design, compatible with automation and scale-up.
• Led preclinical studies for VML using rodent models, including histopathology and ML-based evaluation.
• Spearheaded regulatory strategy, including FDA engagement, document preparation, and pre-IND pathway planning.
• Established strategic partnerships with CROs, CDMOs, and academic centers across North America.
• Raised $2.5M+ in funding (equity + grants), led pitch efforts, and cultivated investor relationships.
• Developed a diverse IP portfolio of 8+ patent families covering core biofabrication and cell culture technologies.
• Directed iPSC differentiation pipelines to generate patient-specific myoblasts, neurons, and islet-like clusters for incorporation into scaffold-free assembloid platforms.
Postdoctoral Fellow in Mechanical Engineering: McMaster University - Hamilton, ON, Canada | 2020 – 2021
• Designed in vitro models to simulate exercise-induced signaling between muscle, bone, adipose, and neuronal tissues.
• Integrated dynamic tissue stimulation systems to study effects of exercise on neuroprotection and neurodegeneration.
• Led interdisciplinary collaborations between engineering, neuroscience, and biomedical teams.
• Established foundational experimental platforms that have since been adopted and extended by new graduate students.
• Initiated novel research directions that have since shaped ongoing studies within the lab’s long-term program.
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Education
PhD - Biomedical Engineering
• McMaster University, Canada | 2017 - 2020
• Dissertation: Development of biofabrication techniques to engineer 3D in vitro avatars of tissues
MSc - Biomedical Engineering (Tissue Engineering)
• Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnique), Iran | 2014 - 2016
• Thesis: Sol-gel bioactive glass synthesis and microsphere sintering for bone scaffold fabrication
BSc - Biomedical Engineering (Dual Majors: Biomechanics & Biomaterials)
• Amirkabir University of Technology, Iran | 2009 - 2014
• Thesis: Mechanical properties of healthy and cancerous cells
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Technical Skills
Design & Hardware
• SolidWorks, CAD, 3D Printing, Custom Bioreactor Design
Programming & Data Science
• Python, MATLAB, Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, OpenCV, ImageJ, QuPath
Machine Learning & Bioinformatics
• ML model deployment, image-based tissue classification, proteomics feature selection
Regulatory & Commercialization
• FDA strategy (pre-IND, GMP process design), QMS, GLP
• Fundraising, investor relations, grant writing, IP portfolio development
Wet Lab Expertise
• Cell and tissue culture, co-culture systems, iPSC derivation and directed differentiation (myogenic, neural, pancreatic lineages), scaffold-free biofabrication
• Histology, immunostaining, confocal & SEM imaging
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Innovation & Thought Leadership
Selected Publications (Full list: Google Scholar)
1. Shahin‐Shamsabadi A. et al. (2025). The Tissue Engineering Grail: Seamless Biofabrication of Scaffold-free Hollow Constructs. Under Review, Available on bioRxiv.
2. Shahin‐Shamsabadi A. et al. (2025). in Vivo‐Like Scaffold‐Free 3D In Vitro Models of Muscular Dystrophies: The Case for Anchored Cell Sheet Engineering in Personalized Medicine. Advanced Healthcare Materials.
3. Shahin‐Shamsabadi A. et al. (2025). Muscle-specific acellular ECM fibers made with anchored cell sheet engineering support regeneration in rat models of volumetric muscle loss. Acta Biomaterialia.
4. Shahin‐Shamsabadi A. et al. (2024). Anchored Cell Sheet Engineering: A Novel Scaffold‐Free Platform for in vitro Modeling. Advanced Functional Materials.
5. Shahin‐Shamsabadi A. et al. (2024). Proteomics and machine learning: Leveraging domain knowledge for feature selection in a skeletal muscle tissue meta-analysis. Heliyon.
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Patents (Representative)
• Anchored Cell Constructs, Cell Sheet Bioreactor, Topography-Controlled Membranes, and related technologies
• 8+ filings across US, Canada, and PCT (2020–2024)
• Role: Lead inventor – patents form the core IP of Evolved.Bio’s platform
• Several patents in licensing discussions or commercial exploration
Honors & Awards
• MIRA Postdoctoral Fellowship, McMaster University
• Lab2Market Fellowship, 2020 Cohort
• Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS)
• International Excellence Award, McMaster University
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Leadership, Teaching & Outreach
• Lead strategic, scientific, and business functions at Evolved.Bio
• Taught biomedical and mechanical engineering courses at McMaster University and Tehran Polytechnique
• Peer reviewer for journals in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
• Collaborated with clinical and academic teams on translational tissue platforms
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