Arun Sharma's Biography

Arun Sharma, Assistant Professor, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Dr. Arun Sharma, PhD is an assistant professor at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Sharma’s research focuses on the applications of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for studying cardiovascular biology, modeling diseases “in a dish” with genome editing technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9, and developing platforms for screening drug cardiotoxicity and efficacy.

He previously led a project that sent human stem cell-derived heart cells to the International Space Station (ISS) to study the effects of microgravity on human heart function. He also recently co-led the 2020 Biomanufacturing in Space Symposium, hosted by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS). This symposium led to a peer-reviewed publication in the journal Stem Cell Reports, identifying the most promising opportunities to leverage the ISS for research and development to advance space-based biomanufacturing and regenerative medicine.

Dr. Sharma has published articles in major scientific journals such as Science, Nature Biotechnology, Science Translational Medicine, 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, and the American Heart Association Career Development Award. Finally, he is an advocate for conveying science to general and scientific audiences through public speaking and is a co-host of the internationally-acclaimed Stem Cell Podcast.