Rate My Professor Fikri Birey

Fikri Birey, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Genetics at Emory University School of Medicine. Born in Nicosia, Cyprus, he received his B.S. in Biology with honors from the University of Kansas in 2008 as a Fulbright Scholar. He earned his Ph.D. in Genetics from Stony Brook University in 2014, where his research focused on neuroglial interactions in stress-related disorders. Birey completed postdoctoral training at Stanford University in 2021 in the laboratory of Sergiu Pasca, pioneering the forebrain assembloid platform to investigate human cortical development and neurodevelopmental disorders. Upon joining Emory, he established the Birey Lab, which operates at the intersection of stem cell biology, developmental biology, and neurobiology.

The Birey Lab utilizes human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived brain organoids and assembloids to elucidate the molecular and cellular mechanisms driving the organization, maturation, and connectivity of the human brain. Research encompasses activity-dependent programs in cortical neuron diversification, neuromodulator influences on cortical development, signaling hubs in brain regionalization, isoform dynamics, and multimodal convergence of neurodevelopmental disease risks, including autism and Timothy syndrome. Prominent publications include "Antisense oligonucleotide therapeutic approach for Timothy syndrome" (Nature, 2024), "Maturation and circuit integration of transplanted human cortical organoids" (Nature, 2022), "Dissecting the molecular basis of human interneuron migration in forebrain assembloids from Timothy Syndrome" (Cell Stem Cell, 2022), "Assembly of functionally integrated human forebrain spheroids" (Nature, 2017), and "Human astrocyte maturation captured in 3D cortical spheroids derived from pluripotent stem cells" (Neuron, 2017). Birey has received the Fulbright Scholarship, Stanford Dean's Postdoctoral Fellowship (2017-2018), and a 2022 SFARI Targeted Award. He co-founded the Emory Brain Organoid Hub to advance organoid modeling technologies.