Inside the ELRIG Awards: Zehra Nizami on Next-Generation Cell Delivery Systems

Laura holds a BSc in Zoology from Queen Mary University of London, an MSc in Palaeoanthropology from UCL, and a PhD in Environmental Sciences from Royal Holloway, University of London. Her academic journey has been fueled by a broad interest in the life sciences and a passion for making complex science accessible to diverse audiences. Before joining Technology Networks in 2025, she gained experience across several areas of science communication, including e-learning, external communications, and science writing. Her work has focused on translating technical research into engaging, understandable content tailored for both specialist and general audiences. As a Scientific Content Producer for custom video content at Technology Networks, Laura is particularly interested in bridging the gap between scientific discovery and public engagement through creative storytelling. Her work aims to support scientific literacy while highlighting the real-world impact of research and innovation.

As head of business development and scientific partnerships at PartitionBio, Dr. Zehra Nizami leads external strategy, early access programs and partnerships to advance the company’s proprietary non-viral delivery platform, BubbleFect, toward R&D, preclinical, and future clinical use. She also continues on as a principal scientist, undertaking R&D with her peers at PartitionBio as part of a collaborative team united by curiosity and discovery. Nazimi’s journey began with a passion for molecular biology, gene regulation and nuclear architecture. As an undergraduate at Princeton (with Dr. Martin Weigert), she studied B cell receptor editing in a lupus mouse model. Her PhD and postdoc in Dr. Joseph Gall’s lab (Johns Hopkins / Carnegie) led to the discovery of novel nuclear organelles ("Pearls"), in-depth studies of Cajal bodies and Histone Locus Bodies and the discovery of a new class of non-coding RNAs (sisRNAs), all early contributions to what is now recognized as liquid-liquid phase separation or biomolecular condensates. That foundational research shaped a career-long interest in membraneless organelles, RNA biology and cellular compartmentalization, with a particular focus on bringing this knowledge into translational biotechnology for humankind. Before PartitionBio, Nazimi was a scientific lead in generating new product applications at Oxford Nanoimaging (ONI) in the UK. She was part of the team that developed the EV Profiler (Extracellular Vesicle characterization with microfluidics enabled single-molecule and super-resolution microscopy), and led on the development of the spin-out CAR T-cell Profiler. Nazimi is equally passionate about science communication and education, from mentoring students in the lab to running a weekly science club for 4–7-year-olds at her son’s local Primary school. She has been volunteering to share her love of science for over 25 years in her local communities, whether that was Baltimore, USA, or Cambridge, UK.