Kiana Aran, PhD

Dr. Kiana Aran is an Iranian/American biomedical entrepreneur who is an Associate Professor of Medical Diagnostics and Therapeutics at Keck Graduate Institute (KGI), a member of The Claremont Colleges; the Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Cardea Bio, a biotechnology company developing next-generation bio-integrated electronic chips for precision medicine; and a visiting Assistant Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Aran also serves as a Consultant of Drug Delivery and Medical Diagnostics for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

She received her undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from the City University of New York in 2007 and her PhD in biomedical engineering from Rutgers University in 2012. She then continued her postdoctoral studies in bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley and was a recipient of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) postdoctoral training fellowship at the Buck Institute for Aging Research in 2015.

Her research focuses on designing novel bio-integrated electronic platforms, using 2D nanomaterials, for precision medicine and utilizing biology as tech elements for various biosensing applications. In addition to biosensing, she combines various engineering modules to develop tools to understand the aging process better. Aran’s scientific vision is to explore the utility of nano-electronic systems to develop transformative and customizable platforms for multi-omics applications and the commercialization of these platforms.

Aran is a recipient of the National Institutes of Health postdoctoral training fellowship at the Buck Institute for Age Research and is a consultant for the Gates Foundation. Her efforts have been recognized within the scientific community by the Clinical OMICs 10 under 40 Award, Athena Pinnacle Award in Life Sciences, NSF Career award, Nature Research Awards for Inspiring Women in Science: Scientific Achievement Category’s Overall Winner in 2021, and Distinguished Engineering Medal of Excellence from Rutgers University in 2022. Aran also received multiple NIH RO1, DARPA, and Gate Foundation grants and awards from the private sector to develop the next generation of electronic biosensors for precision medicine.

1. Amiri, P., DeCastro, J., Littig, J., Lu, H.-W., Liu, C., Conboy, I., Aran, K., Erythrocytes, a New Contributor to Age-Associated Loss of Blood–Brain Barrier Integrity. Adv. Sci. 2021, 2101912. https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202101912
2. S. Balderston, G. Clouse, J. Ripoll, G. Pratt, G. Gasiunas, J. Bock, E.P. Bennett, and K. Aran. Diversification of the CRISPR Toolbox: Applications of CRISPR-Cas Systems Beyond Genome Editing. The CRISPR Journal. Jun 2021.400-415.http://doi.org/10.1089/crispr.2020.0137
3. Hajian, R., DeCastro, J., Parkinson, J., Kane, A., Camelo, A. F. R., Chou, P. P., Yang, J., Wong, N., Hernandez, E. D. O., Goldsmith, B., Conboy, I., Aran, K., Rapid and Electronic Identification and Quantification of Age‐Specific Circulating Exosomes via Biologically Activated Graphene Transistors. Adv. Biology 2021, 2000594. https://doi.org/10.1002/adbi.202000594
4. S. Balderston, J. Taulbee, E. Celaya, K. Fung, K. Smith, R. Hajian, G. Gasiunas, S. Kutanovas, R. Peytavi, F. Barron, B.R. Goldsmith, P. G. Collins, I. M. Conboy, V. Siksnys, K. Aran, Discrimination of single-point mutations in unamplified genomic DNA via Cas9 immobilized on a graphene field-effect transistor. Nature Biomedical Engineering, 2021, DOI 10.1038/s41551-021-00706-z
5. J. DeCastro, J. Littig, P.P. Chou, J. Mack-Onyeike, A. Srinivasan, M.J. Conboy, I. M. Conboy, & K. Aran. The Microfluidic Toolbox for Analyzing Exosome Biomarkers of Aging. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 26(3), 535 (2021).
6. R. Hajian, K. Fung, P. Chou, S. Wang, S. Balderston, K. Aran, Graphene Oxide: Properties and Functionalization Methods. Material Matters, 2019, Vol. 14, Issue 1, 37-45
7. D. K. Rai, M. Gurusaran, V. Urban, K. Aran, L. Ma, P. Li, S. Qian, T.N. Narayanan, P.M. Ajayan, D. Liepmann, K. Sekar, M.E. Álvarez-Cao, J.J. Escuder-Rodríguez, M.E Cerdán, M.I. González-Siso, S. Viswanathan, R. Paulmurugan, V. Renugopalakrishnan. Sci Rep 9, 15519 (2019) DOI:10.1038/s41598-019-51882-7
8. Reza Hajian, Sarah Balderston, Thanhtra Tran, Tara deBoer, Jessy Etienne, Mandeep Sandhu, Noreen A. Wauford, Jing-Yi Chung, Jolie Nokes, Mitre Athaiya, Jacobo Paredes, Regis Peytavi, Brett Goldsmith, Niren Murthy, Irina M. Conboy, Kiana Aran. (2019). Nature Biomedical Engineering doi: 10.1038/s41551-019-0371
9. Sadlowski, C. M., Balderston, S., Sandhu, M., Hajian, R., Liu, C., Tran, T. T., … & Aran, K. (2018). Lab on a Chip. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8LC00446C
10. Aran, K., Chooljian, M., Paredes, J., Rafi, M., Lee, K., Kim, A. Y., An, J., Yau, J. F., Chum, H., Conboy I., Murthy, N., Liepmann, D. (2017). An oral microjet vaccination system elicits antibody production in rabbits. Science Translational Medicine, 9(380). http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/9/380/eaaf6413.abstract
11. Lee, K., Mohammad, R., Wang, X., Aran, K., Feng, X., Sterzo L., C., … Murthy, N. (n.d.). In vivo delivery of transcription factors with multifunctional oligonucleotides. Natural Materials, 14(7), 701–706. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamem.2015.02.010.Cationic
12. Viswanathan, S., Narayanan, T. N., Aran, K., Fink, K. D., Paredes, J., Ajayan, P. M., … Renugopalakrishanan, V. (2015). Graphene-protein field effect biosensors: Glucose sensing. Materials Today, 18(9), 513–522. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2015.04.003
13. Aran, K., Parades, J., Rafi, M., Yau, J. F., Acharya, A. P., Zibinsky, M., Liepmann, D. and Murthy, N. (2015), Stimuli-Responsive Electrodes Detect Oxidative Stress and Liver Injury. Adv. Mater., 27: 1433–1436. doi:10.1002/adma.201404562
14. Acharya, A.P., Sen, P., Aran, K., Gardner, A.B., Rafi, M., Dean, D., Murthy, N. Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry 53 (2), 206-210 doi:10.1002/pola.27376
15. D. Liepmann, K. Aran, PM. Ajayan, S. Viswanathan, P. Li, V. Renugopalakrishnan, MRS Proceedings, 2014, DOI: 10.1557/opl.2015.302
16. K. Aran, J. Paredes, J. Yau. M. Rafi. MicroTAS 2014, Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences.
17. Sasso, L.A., Aran, K., Guan, Y., Ündar, AZahn, J.D. Artificial organs 37 (1) doi.org/10.1111/aor.12021
18. Aran, K., Fok, A., Sasso, L. A., Kamdar, N., Guan, Y., Sun, Q., … Zahn, J. D. (2011). Microfiltration platform for continuous blood plasma protein extraction from whole blood during cardiac surgery. Lab on a Chip, 11(17), 2858–2868. http://doi.org/10.1039/c1lc20080a
19. Qiu, F., Talor, J., Zahn, J., Pauliks, L., Kunselman, A. R., Palanzo, D., … Ündar, A. (2011). Translational Research in Pediatric Extracorporeal Life Support Systems and Cardiopulmonary Bypass Procedures: 2011 Update. World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery, 2(3), 476–481. doi.org/10.1177%2F2150135111402226
20. Aran, K., Fok, A., Y, G., Sun, Q., Zahn, J., & Undar, A. (n.d.). Differential immune activation during simulated cardiopulmonary bypass procedure using freshly drawn and week-old blood—a pilot study. Artificial Organs, 34(11), 1048–53. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21137157
21. Aran, K., Sasso, L. A., Kamdar, N., & Zahn, J. D. (2010). Irreversible, direct bonding of nanoporous polymer membranes to PDMS or glass microdevices. Lab on a Chip, 10(5), 548. https://doi.org/10.1039/b924816a

K. Aran, D. Liepmann, N. Murthy. “Ingestible Active Agent Delivery Devices, and Methods of Using the Same” (US BK-2014-192)

K. Aran, J. Perades, N. Murthy, D. Liepmann. “Stimuli Responsive Sensors and Methods of Using the Same (US 62/057,894)