Faculty Profiles

Bioengineering professor Kiana Aran's research focuses on the development of bioelectronics for multi-omics studies, targeted drug delivery, and aging research. She is recognized for her pioneering work in fusion of CRISPR with electronics to enhance genotyping accuracy and gene editing precision. Aran holds a joint appointment with UC San Diego School of Medicine and is the founder of two biotechnology companies based in San Diego.

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Professor Aran also serves as Co-Director of the Center for Technologies for Healthy Aging at the Institute of Engineering in Medicine at UC San Diego, where she leads initiatives to improve health technologies for aging populations. She is also an active member of New Voices for the National Academy of Sciences and Engineering, contributing to U.S. STEM policy reforms aimed at translating academic discoveries into impactful innovations.

In addition to her academic leadership, Aran co-founded Cardea Bio, a company focused on developing graphene-based biosensors, which was successfully acquired. She also co-founded CRISPR QC, a biotechnology firm that advances precision CRISPR analytical tools.

Aran’s work has been widely recognized with numerous prestigious awards. In 2024, she was named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors and awarded Distinguished Engineer of the Year by the San Diego Society of Engineers. She was also named to New Voices in Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in 2023, the same year she was honored as a Distinguished Engineer by the Society of Women Engineers and was selected as Inc. USA’s Top 200 Female Founders. In 2022, she received the Distinguished Engineering Medal of Excellence from Rutgers University and became a member of the World Minds community. Among her many accolades, Aran was the overall winner of the Nature Research Awards for Inspiring Women in Science in 2021, earned the NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, and was recognized by The Scientist for developing one of the Top 10 Innovations of the year. Her earlier honors include the Athena Pinnacle Award in 2020 and the Clinical OMICs 10 Under 40 Award, as well as being featured in Nature’s Behind the Paper Top 10 List and Most Read Nature Biomedical Engineering Paper in 2019. She also received accolades from the San Diego Venture Group for leading one of the Coolest Companies of 2019, along with the CONNECT Most Innovative Product Award in the Life Sciences and Healthtech category that same year.

Aran holds more than 32 issued or pending patents, reflecting her innovative contributions to biotechnology.