Thomas A. Rando, MD, PhD is Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences and Director of the Glenn Laboratories for the Biology of Aging at Stanford University School of Medicine. Research in the Rando laboratory concerns the basic biology of stem cells, how stem cells function in adult tissue homeostasis, and how their function is altered in degenerative diseases and during aging. Groundbreaking work from his laboratory, using heterochronic parabiosis, showed that the age-related decline in stem cell function is due to influences of the aged environmental. Dr. Rando has received numerous awards, including a Paul Beeson Physician Faculty Scholar in Aging, a Senior Scholar Award from the Ellison Medical Foundation, and a “Breakthroughs in Gerontology” Award from the American Federation for Aging Research. He is a recipient of the received the prestigious NIH Director’s Pioneer Award for his work at the interface between stem cell biology and the biology of aging, and he received a Transformative Research Award from the NIH for studies of the mechanisms of the enhancement of cognitive function by physical activity and changes that occur in this “muscle-brain axis” that occur during aging. Dr. Rando is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.