ASCI / Young Physician-Scientist Awards, 2023

While his commitment to a career as a physician-scientist is now unwavering, Arun Padmanabhan, MD, PhD has had an unconventional journey to this point. He attended college intending to study biomedical engineering but was surprised to discover a greater interest in and aptitude for his biology and chemistry courses. Dr. Padmanabhan enrolled in medical school intending to return home to serve his local community as a physician upon completion of his clinical training. However, his fortuitous participation in a year-long Sarnoff Fellowship in Dr. Jonathan Epstein’s laboratory saw his excitement for science snowball culminating in his transfer into the combined MD-PhD training program. The environment and mentorship in the Epstein laboratory were incredible. Dr. Padmanabhan became interested in the molecular mechanisms governing cardiac and neural crest development which he studied in the context of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). His focus on cardiovascular research provided opportunities to interact with many cardiology physician-scientists who swayed him towards this field. As a cardiologist with training in developmental biology, Dr. Padmanabhan remains completely enthralled by the complex interplay of gene regulatory circuits that orchestrate cell fate decisions during organogensis and have been extending these principles to understanding cell state transitions in heart failure pathogenesis. Dr. Padmanabhan's decision to pursue a physician-scientist career came about from interactions with like-minded individuals who described the exhilaration associated with discovery and demonstrated that groundbreaking scientific investigation and high-quality clinical care are entirely compatible. One of his greatest joys is “paying it forward” in this respect by promoting scientific exploration to all the trainees he is afforded the opportunity to work with, through the leadership roles he has assumed in recruitment of science-focused residents and fellows, and in directing a program for rising physician-scientists through the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub.