Dr. Eduardo Marbán stands as a preeminent leader in cardiovascular medicine and a pioneering heart researcher whose work has transformed our understanding of cardiac regeneration. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and holds the Mark Siegel Family Foundation Distinguished Chair. Born in Cuba, Dr. Marbán emigrated to the United States at age six as a political refugee and pursued his medical education at Yale University School of Medicine through a combined MD/PhD program. Following clinical training at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1985, he joined the Johns Hopkins faculty, where he was rapidly tenured and promoted to full professor within six years, eventually serving as Chief of Cardiology before his move to Los Angeles in 2007 to establish the Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Dr. Marbán's groundbreaking research has fundamentally reshaped the landscape of cardiac regenerative medicine, most notably through his isolation and characterization of cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs), a type of cardiac stem cell that can be harvested from patients using minimally invasive techniques. His laboratory pioneered the first-in-human clinical trial in 2009, administering autologous CDCs to patients with recent heart attacks, marking the first human trial to demonstrate evidence of therapeutic cardiac regeneration. The NIH-funded CADUCEUS study subsequently provided robust clinical evidence of the safety and efficacy of this approach, with results showing significant reduction in scar mass and viable tissue regeneration. Dr. Marbán also created the first de novo biological pacemaker, work that is now advancing toward first-in-human clinical testing, demonstrating his consistent ability to translate fundamental discoveries into tangible clinical applications.
Under Dr. Marbán's visionary leadership, the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute has become a premier center for cardiovascular innovation, consistently ranked among the nation's best by U.S. News & World Report. His research has progressed through five clinical trials involving patients with heart failure and Duchenne muscular dystrophy, including the ALLSTAR trial investigating allogeneic cardiosphere-derived cells. Previously serving as editor of Circulation Research for a decade, his contributions to the field have been recognized with numerous prestigious honors including the American Heart Association's Award of Meritorious Achievement, the Basic Research Prize, and the Distinguished Scientist Award. Currently directing the NIH-funded research on novel noncoding RNA drugs and extracellular vesicles for refractory ventricular tachycardia, Dr. Marbán continues to pioneer biologically based therapies that hold promise for transforming cardiovascular care for millions of patients worldwide.
