Furqan Fazal, PhD

Biophysicist and RNA Biologist

Furqan Fazal started as an assistant professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in June of 2021. The Fazal lab is part of the Therapeutic Innovation Center.

Prior to BCM, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University, where he developed and used genomic tools to illuminate RNA biology in Howard Chang’s lab. His research focused on investigating the impact of RNA structure and RNA subcellular localization on gene regulation. His postdoctoral work was supported by an NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, an Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship, and an NIH T32 Training Grant.

Furqan got his Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Stanford in the lab of Steven Block, where he utilized single-molecule techniques to study eukaryotic and prokaryotic transcription. His graduate work was supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

He graduated summa cum laude from Amherst College, with majors in physics, chemistry, and biology. His undergraduate thesis was in organic synthesis.

Furqan was born and raised in India. In his spare time he enjoys photography and traveling.