Thomas A. Rando, MD, PhD

Scientific Advisory Board emeritus
Thomas A. Rando, MD, PhD is a founding member of the cc-TDI Scientific Advisory Board (2015-2022).  When he was on the SAB, Dr. Rando was Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences and Director of the Glenn Laboratories for the Biology of Aging at Stanford University School of Medicine. He was also Chief of Neurology at the Palo Alto VA Medical Center where he was Director of the Rehabilitation Research & Development Center of Excellence whose focus is the emerging field of regenerative medicine. Research in the Rando laboratory concerns the basic biology of stem cells, how stem cells function in adult tissue homeostasis, and how their function is altered in degenerative diseases and during aging. Dr. Rando has been a Founding Director of the Muscular Dystrophy Association Clinic at Stanford, and his research has focused on the pathogenesis and treatment, including stem cell therapeutics, for the muscular dystrophies. Dr. Rando has received numerous awards, including a Paul Beeson Physician Faculty Scholar in Aging, a Senior Scholar Award from the Ellison Medical Foundation, and a “Breakthroughs in Gerontology” Award from the American Federation for Aging Research. In 2005 he received the prestigious NIH Director’s Pioneer Award for his work at the interface between stem cell biology and the biology of aging, and he has been the recipient of a Transformative Research Award from the NIH for studies of the mechanisms of the enhancement of cognitive function by physical activity and changes that occur in this “muscle-brain axis” that occur during aging.  Dr. Rando is now Director of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Other Team Members