Hi, I’m Mahan

My Persian name means “moon-like.”

I’m a PhD student in Computer Science at The University of Manchester, supported by the FSE Bicentenary Scholarship.

Research focus: multiscale foundation models for spatial omics, with breast cancer as my main application. Spatial omics tells us which genes and proteins are active in each cell, and where that cell sits inside the tissue. I build self-supervised transformer models that learn from this data at several scales at once — from single cells to whole tissue sections — and that generalise across tissues and organs. In breast cancer, a tumour’s spatial structure shapes how it progresses and how it resists treatment.

I also remain very interested in visual computing — especially diffusion models, generative modelling, and signal processing — which is where most of my earlier work on MRI reconstruction and medical imaging sits.

Education

Experience

I’ve summarized my internships and teaching work on a dedicated page: See Experience →

Languages

Outside the Lab

Outside of academics, I enjoy running and playing the guitar. Running helps me maintain focus and energy for research, while playing guitar brings a creative balance to my routine. I’m still learning, but you can check out a recent performance on Instagram—don’t judge the beginner’s flair!! I’m improving every day!

I also enjoy playing soccer (both on the field and in FC video games) and am always up for a friendly match. I’ll pick Manchester United—what team will you bring?