Mahendra S. Rao MBBS, MD, PhD

Mahendra Rao received his MD from Bombay University in India and his PhD in Developmental Neurobiology from the California Institute of Technology. Mahendra Rao is wisely known for his research involving human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), iPSC, and other somatic stem cells. Dr. Rao and has worked in the stem cell field for more than twenty years with stints in academia, government and regulatory affairs and industry.

Dr. Rao has an extensive background teaching medical and graduate students, as well as postdoctoral fellows at several institutions including the National Institutes of Health, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, The National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore, India, and the University of Utah School of Medicine. Dr. Rao has published more than 300 papers on stem cell research and is the co-founder of a neural stem cell company, Q Therapeutics, based in Salt Lake City (Utah).

Dr. Rao serves on several editorial boards, review panels scientific advisory boards and company boards. He continues to work with the NIH and FDA on consent other regulatory authorities on ESC related issues most recently as the CIRM and ISSCR liaison to the ISCT. Dr Rao is currently on the faculty at Wake Forest University and is the Vice President of Research in Regenerative Medicine at Q Therapeutics. He currently serves on the Board of CESCA, XCell and Q Therapeutics and on the SAB’s and as a consultant of various stem cell companies including the New York Stem Cell Foundation. He continues to maintain an active research program in neural development and in evaluating cell-based screening and therapy to treat disorders of the nervous system.