The PennZone

PHILADELPHIA - PennZone -- Roohid Parast, a scientist at Johnson and Johnson in Springhouse, Pennsylvania, is expanding his expertise by pursuing a Masters of Business Administration with a concentration in Artificial Intelligence, expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

Parast currently works within J&J's translational medicine group, supporting the clinical development of compounds targeting inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, and psoriatic arthritis. His responsibilities include generating and analyzing proteomic and transcriptomic datasets from human clinical samples that directly inform dose selection decisions and mechanism of action assessments in active drug trials. Platforms he works with include Meso Scale Discovery immunoassays, digital spatial profiling, and single-cell RNA sequencing from FFPE tissue.

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His focus on IBD is particularly relevant given that ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease affect an estimated 3 million Americans, with a significant portion failing to respond to existing biologic therapies. Parast holds a BS in Biochemistry from Temple University, and prior to his role at J&J, worked as an Associate Scientist II at QPS and in biopharmaceutical manufacturing at GSK.

Beyond his biomarker work, Parast is developing a deeper interest in fundamental biology, specifically the interleukin-23 receptor (IL-23R) pathway, which plays a central role in the inflammatory cascade underlying IBD and psoriatic disease. His MBA concentration in Artificial Intelligence reflects a conviction that the future of drug development will be shaped by scientists who can speak both the language of biology and machine learning.

Outside of his pharmaceutical career, Parast holds an ACSM personal trainer certification and writes about the science of training, inflammation, and recovery. His professional profile is at roohidparast.github.io and his research profile is at researchgate.net/profile/Roohid-Parast.