Thomas A. Rando, MD, PhD is Director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA, where he is also Professor of Neurology and of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology. Dr. Rando received his AB, MD, and PhD degrees from Harvard University and then completed a residency in neurology at UCSF and postdoctoral training at Stanford University.

Prior to moving to UCLA in 2021, he had been on the faculty at Stanford University School of Medicine in the Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences. At Stanford, Dr. Rando was the founding Director of the Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging, a member of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, founding deputy director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, and Chief of Neurology at the Palo Alto VA Medical Center.

Dr. Rando’s research focuses on stem cell biology and the biology of aging. His stem cell work has focused on the regulation of cell fate decisions with a particular interest in stem cell quiescence. He has been a pioneer in the field of systemic factors as regulators of cellular aging beginning with seminal studies done in his laboratory using the technique of heterochronic parabiosis. These studies have formed a foundation of current approaches to epigenetic rejuvenation. He is a scientific founder of Fountain Therapeutics whose mission is to develop therapies for diseases of aging based on these fundamental biological principles.

Dr. Rando has received numerous awards including an NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, an Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar Award in Aging, the “Breakthroughs in Gerontology” Award from the American Federation for Aging Research, and a Transformative Research Award from the NIH. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the National Academy of Medicine, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.