Siavash K. Kurdistani

Dr. Siavash K. Kurdistani is a Professor in Biological Chemistry and Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. With a dual MD (1999) and PhD background, his research spans chromatin biology, histone functions, and their implications in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

• Department Chair, Biological Chemistry
• Co-Director, UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center
• Member, UCLA Molecular Biology Institute

His research focuses on:

• Histone post-translational modifications
• Metal ion homeostasis via chromatin
• Epigenetic-metabolic crosstalk
• Chromatin structure and disease mechanisms
• Evolution of chromatin regulatory systems
• Transcriptional regulation in cancer

Key recent publications reveal histones as metabolic regulators with enzymatic activities (copper/zinc reductase) impacting yeast aging (2025), neurodegeneration (2021), and cancer metabolism (2022). His work on MLLT3 (2019) and nuclear deformation (2022) has been widely cited.

Honors include:

• ASCI membership (2019)
• Kavli Fellow (2011)
• NIH Director's Innovator Award (2009)
• HHMI Early Career Award (2006-2009)
• Beckman Young Investigator (2007)

He has secured multiple NIH grants and collaborates across biochemistry, medicine, and systems biology. The Kurdistani Lab (est. 2004) employs yeast, cancer cells, and stem cells to investigate chromatin's role in disease. Current projects explore histone biochemistry in Friedreich's ataxia and epigenetic reprogramming in neuroendocrine cancers.