Afshin Beheshti, PhD
Afshin Beheshti, PhD is a Professor of Surgery and Computational & Systems Biology at the University of Pittsburgh, where he also serves as Director of the Center for Space Biomedicine and Associate Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. He is a visiting scientist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
Dr. Beheshti earned his PhD in physics from Florida State University and transitioned to research in systems biology, cancer, and space biology. His work with NASA’s Specialized Center of Research (NSCOR) laid the foundation for studies on space radiation and aging. He later joined Tufts University and NASA Ames Research Center, contributing to the NASA GeneLab platform and leading projects on mitochondrial function, microRNAs, radiation exposure, and spaceflight-related health risks.
He is President of the COVID-19 International Research Team (COV-IRT), leading global collaborations on COVID and long COVID. In 2023, he co-founded Kwaai, a nonprofit focused on democratizing AI access. Dr. Beheshti co-led the Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA), a landmark collaboration with Nature spanning 100+ institutions worldwide, and serves as PI for NASA’s Human Adaptation to Spaceflight study, examining astronaut health from over a decade of ISS missions.
His research integrates systems biology, omics, and AI to understand and counteract biological stressors in space and disease. His honors include the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal and the ISS R&D Award. He also performs with the band Medical Maps, whose last album That is That was released in 2023.
Disclosures:
- Employment: none
- Compensation: none
- Ownership: none
- Leadership: none