Faculty Profiles

Dr. Kiana Aran is an Associate Professor of Bioengineering and Medicine at the University of California San Diego, pioneering bioelectronics for multi-omics studies, targeted drug delivery, and aging research. She integrates CRISPR with electronics to enhance genotyping and gene editing. Aran also holds a joint appointment at UC San Diego School of Medicine and is the founder of two San Diego-based biotech   companies.

Capsule Bio:

Aran serves as Co-Director of the Center for Technologies for Healthy Aging at UC San Diego and is a member of New Voices for the National Academy of Sciences and Engineering, shaping STEM policy reforms. She co-founded Cardea Bio, a graphene biosensor company successfully acquired, and CRISPR QC, advancing precision CRISPR analytics.

Her contributions have earned numerous prestigious awards. In 2025, she won the inaugural Sony and Nature Award for Top Women in Technology, recognizing her among three global leaders. In 2024, she was named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors and Distinguished Engineer of the Year by the San Diego Society of Engineers. Other honors include New Voices in Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2023), Inc. USA’s Top 200 Female Founders (2023), and Distinguished Engineer by the Society of Women  Engineers (2023).

Past accolades include the Nature Research Award for Inspiring Women in Science (2021), the NSF CAREER Award, The Scientist’s Top 10 Innovation, and the Athena Pinnacle Award (2020). Her research was featured in Nature Biomedical Engineering’s Most Read Papers and Nature’s Behind the Paper Top 10 List (2019). She also received the CONNECT Most Innovative Product Award and San Diego Venture Group’s Coolest Companies Award (2019).

With over 32 issued or pending patents, Aran continues to drive groundbreaking innovations in biotechnology.