James G. Boswell Postdoctoral Fellowship
The James Boswell Postdoctoral Fellowship was established in 1974 to strengthen collaborative research efforts between Caltech and HMRI. James Boswell Postdoctoral Fellows hold joint appointments at Caltech and HMRI, and their research projects are of mutual interest to both institutions.
Personnel from both Caltech and HMRI are members of the selection committee. The chair of the committee rotates between Caltech and HMRI every three years. The Caltech Postdoctoral Scholars Office provides administrative support for the committee. The current members of the fellowship selection committee are:
- Anju Vasudevan, PhD (Chair), Basic and Translational Neurosciences, HMRI
- Alfred Fonteh, PhD, Neurosciences Research, HMRI
- Brian Stoltz, PhD, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Caltech
- Yu-Chong Tai, PhD, Engineering and Applied Science, Caltech
- Yuki Oka, PhD, Biology and Biological Engineering, Caltech
- Robert Kloner, MD, PhD, Cardiovascular Research, HMRI
The endowed funds that support the James Boswell Postdoctoral Fellowships are managed by Caltech's Office of the Provost. Vice Provost Kaushik Bhattacharya, PhD currently serves as the principal investigator for the award. When the spendable payout generated by the endowment is sufficient to support a postdoctoral scholar, and there is mutual scientific interest between Caltech and HMRI, the selection committee convenes, and a search advertisement is placed. The committee reviews all candidate applications, and scientific interests are matched with mentors at both institutions.
When a James Boswell Postdoctoral Fellow is selected, the Caltech Postdoctoral Scholars Office coordinates the appointment process (similar to prize fellowship appointments) with the appropriate divisions' academic affairs manager. Currently, Dr. Vasudevan is responsible for coordinating the HMRI affiliation.
Rashid Alavi, PhD
James G. Boswell Postdoctoral Fellow
Cardiovascular Research, Huntington Medical Research Institutes (HMRI)
Department of Medical Engineering, California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Faculty Mentors:
Morteza Gharib, PhD (Caltech)
Robert A. Kloner, MD, PhD (HMRI)
Niema Pahlevan, PhD (USC-HMRI)
Rashid Alavi, PhD currently holds the position of James Boswell postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Huntington Medical Research Institutes (HMRI). He completed his doctoral studies in Mechanical/Cardiovascular Engineering at the University of Southern California (USC) in August 2023, focusing on the development of "hybrid physics-based data driven approaches for noninvasive hemodynamic diagnosis of myocardial infarction and heart failure." Dr. Alavi earned his BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Isfahan University of Technology in Iran. Rashid has been an active part of numerous clinical and preclinical studies conducted at USC Keck Hospital and HMRI, contributing to advancements in the diagnosis of myocardial infarction and heart failure.
During his doctoral studies, Dr. Alavi earned multiple recognitions. He was among the top five finalists nominated for the highly coveted 2023 Young Investigator Award of the American College of Cardiology (ACC). Dr. Alavi is also the recipient of the 2023 Student Recognition Award of Phi Kappa Phi (PKP) National Honor Society, presented at the 42nd annual academic honors convocation of USC, where he was recognized for his collection of work on technological advances preventing heart diseases.
