Deepak Srivastava Selected to Deliver American Heart Association’s Distinguished Scientist Lecture

Deepak Srivastava, MD, president of Gladstone Institutes and acclaimed cardiovascular scientist, has been chosen to deliver the American Heart Association’s Distinguished Scientist Lecture. Srivastava, who received the association’s highest honor of Distinguished Scientist in 2023, will present the featured lecture on cellular reprogramming in human disease at association’s Scientific Sessions 2025 in New Orleans on Saturday, Nov. 8.

“Heart disease remains one of humanity’s greatest challenges, but we now have the ability to repair and even replace what was once thought lost,” says Srivastava, who is also a senior investigator at Gladstone and director of the institute’s Roddenberry Stem Cell Center. “It’s a privilege to be selected to deliver this message to the world’s preeminent leaders and clinicians in cardiovascular medicine. These are the individuals whose work continues to redefine what’s possible for patients everywhere.”

Established in 2006, the Distinguished Scientist Lectureship is a major honor and recognition of excellence by the American Heart Association, with a single scientist selected annually.

Srivastava’s discoveries have transformed scientific understanding of the genetic and molecular mechanisms that drive heart development and disease, leading to innovative approaches for repairing heart damage and degeneration that are now advancing toward clinical trials.

Through his leadership at Gladstone, Srivastava is advancing innovation at the intersection of genetics, stem cell biology, and data science to accelerate new treatments for cardiovascular and other complex diseases. His research uncovered how scar-forming cells in the heart can be reprogrammed into beating heart cells, opening the door to novel approaches for heart failure, and his group revealed the genetic basis for many forms of congenital and acquired heart disease that are now being translated into real-world therapies for patients.

Among other notable achievements, Srivastava is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Srivastava also was named a 2024 Distinguished Citizen by Commonwealth Club World Affairs and recently was honored as Most Admired CEO by the San Francisco Business Times.