Dr. Arun Sharma, PhD is a stem cell biologist focusing on cardiovascular biology and space bioscience.
Dr. Sharma’s research focuses on the applications of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for studying cardiovascular biology, modeling cardiac disease mechanisms “in a dish”, and developing platforms for screening drug cardiotoxicity and efficacy.
He led a project that sent human iPSC-derived heart cells to the International Space Station to study the effects of microgravity on human heart function. This was the first long-duration cell culture experiment in space. He remains actively involved in the space biosciences field and is the director of the Center for Space Medicine Research at Cedars-Sinai.
Dr. Sharma trained at Harvard Medical School, Stanford University, and Duke University and has published articles in leading scientific journals such as Science, Nature Biotechnology, Science Translational Medicine, Circulation Research, Stem Cell Reports, and Cell Stem Cell. He has received multiple awards for his work, including the Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science, Sartorius & Science Award in Regenerative Medicine, the Igniting Innovation Award and Compelling Results Award from NASA, and the American Heart Association Career Development Award.
He is an advocate for conveying science to general and scientific audiences through public speaking (Host, The Stem Cell Podcast) and social media (@ArunSharmaPhD).