Dr. Afshin Beheshti earned his PhD in physics from Florida State University in 2002 before transitioning to postdoctoral training in cancer research, systems biology, space biology, and radiation biology. From 2006 to 2011, he was part of a NASA Specialized Center of Research (NSCOR) funded project, focusing on cancer risks due to space irradiation, during which he published several key studies. During this time, he also explored how aging affects tumor growth dynamics using novel systems biology approaches, alongside other cancer-related research. In 2014, Dr. Beheshti joined Tufts University School of Medicine/Tufts Medical Center as an Assistant Professor, where his research as a systems biologist centered on cancer, particularly in areas such as microRNAs (miRNAs), aging, cancer drug targets, and the development of novel immunotherapies. In April 2017, he joined KBR at NASA Ames Research Center, contributing to the GeneLab project and platform development. Shortly thereafter, he secured multiple grants from NASA, the Department of Defense, and other agencies, leading research on the roles of miRNAs and mitochondria in space biology, countermeasures against space radiation and microgravity, COVID-19, Long COVID, cancer, and the effects of high altitude on human biology. In 2023, Dr. Beheshti transitioned to the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science at NASA Ames Research Center, where he continues to advance research in these critical areas.

He recently joined the University of Pittsburgh as a Professor of Surgery and Computational and Systems Biology, Director of the Space Biomedicine Program, and Associate Director at the McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine. In these roles, he will continue his ongoing projects and launch a new space biomedicine program at the University. With this new initiative he will create research opportunities to explore space health issues, research countermeasures to mitigate the damage caused by the space environment and develop outreach/education programs for space biology research. Additional information can be found at Pitt Space: https://space.pitt.edu/. Additionally, he holds a Visiting Researcher appointment at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Dr. Beheshti is also the President of two non-profit organizations. The first, the COVID-19 International Research Team (COV-IRT, www.cov-irt.org), was formed in March 2020 and focuses on COVID-19 and Long COVID research, with many publications produced. The second, established in August 2023, aims to democratize access to artificial intelligence through the design, construction, and maintenance of a free Personal AI called Kwaai (www.kwaai.ai).

Recently, Dr. Beheshti, was one of the leads who partnered with Nature Portfolio to coordinate the largest-ever collection of space biology papers, the Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA). This project involved over 100 institutions from more than 25 countries, resulting in an extensive compendium of manuscripts, data, protocols, and code for aerospace medicine and space biology. Dr. Beheshti contributed to 22 papers in this collection, serving as senior author on nine. His contributions were pivotal in securing the cover feature for the August 2024 issue of Nature, which included three of the papers he co-authored, with one highlighting his role as senior author. The issue can be found here: Nature August 2024.

Dr. Beheshti’s contributions have earned him recognition and accolades, including the International Space Station Research & Development Award for Compelling Results in Biology from the American Astronaut Society/NASA, the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, One KBR Award, and the NASA Outstanding Service Award: NASA Ames Safety Award Program II.