2025 George E. Brown Memorial Lecturer – Eduardo Marbán, MD, PhD, FAHA

Eduardo Marbán, MD, PhD, FAHA

Smidt Heart Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
London, United Kingdom

Eduardo Marbán, MD, PhD, is a cardiologist and a scientist. Born in Cuba, Dr. Marbán emigrated to the U.S. at age 6 as a political refugee. He studied medicine and physiology at Yale, then ascended the ranks at Johns Hopkins from intern to Chief of Cardiology. In his research career, Dr. Marbán, a cellular electrophysiologist by training, has pursued questions of relevance to heart disease, including the creation of the first de novo biological pacemaker as an alternative to electronic pacemakers.

Since 2004 the Marbán lab has been intensively studying cardiac progenitor cells, their mechanism of action and therapeutic potential. Dr. Marbán’s discoveries form the basis for Deramiocel, a cell therapy product for the cardiomyopathy caused by Duchenne muscular dystrophy. He is developing bioinspired noncoding RNA drugs for a variety of deadly illnesses. In 2007, Dr. Marbán became founding director of the Smidt Heart Institute, a multidisciplinary entity that brings together adult and pediatric cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, imaging specialists and researchers to foster discovery and enhance patient care.

Dr. Marbán has served the American Heart Association in various volunteer roles, including as a founding member of the BCVS Council and as editor of Circulation Research from 1999 to 2009. He has received numerous honors, including the Basic Research Prize of the AHA, the Research Achievement Award of the International Society for Heart Research, the Gill Heart Institute Award, and the Distinguished Scientist Awards of the AHA and the American College of Cardiology. Dr. Marbán's discoveries have formed the basis for four biotechnology companies and 48 granted patents.