Mehrdad Kiani attended Brown University where he majored in materials engineering and graduated magna cum laude in 2015. During his time at Brown, he conducted research in both archaeology and materials science. In archaeology, Mehrdad helped to develop a 3D modeling and database software (REVEAL) specifically designed for cataloging excavation sites. Through this, he had the opportunity to work at sites in Peru, Turkey, and Iceland. In materials science, Mehrdad conducted research in the laboratory of Prof. Ian Wong at Brown University Center for Biomedical Engineering. He was a recipient of the Vincent and Ruby Dimase Summer Fellowship in 2014 for his work on computer simulations of tumor spheroid dynamics and characterization of cells on buckled graphene. Mehrdad received a Whitaker Fellowship to join Almquist Lab as a visiting researcher.