The Myasthenia Gravis Rare Disease Network (MGNet) has awarded the 2026 MGNet Scholar Award to Fatemeh Khani-Habibabadi, PhD.
Dr. Khani-Habibabadi is a postdoctoral associate in neurology at the Yale School of Medicine. She earned both her MS and PhD in molecular biology and genetics from Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran, Iran. Her current research focuses on investigating autoantibody-mediated pathogenic mechanisms and their impact on clinical response to therapeutic interventions in patients with myasthenia gravis.
Dr. Khani-Habibabadi’s project, "B-Cell Depletion and Refractory Response to Anti-CD19 Therapy in Myasthenia Gravis”, focuses on understanding the refractory response of B-cells by characterizing the "persistent" B-cell clones that survive depletion and continue to drive pathology. By analyzing circulating B cells from patients who participated in the MINT clinical trial, she will explore the phenotypic and transcriptomic signatures that allow these cells to escape therapy. Ultimately, this work aims to identify new biomarkers to predict treatment success and provide more personalized care for patients with MG." stratification, perioperative planning, and the design of future clinical trials.
Learn more about future research grants and funding opportunities through MGNet
