Dr. David A. Goukassian is a graduate of Yerevan State Medical University. After practicing Medicine and Dermatology for five years he was accepted to a post-graduate program and completed his Ph.D. at Central Advanced Training Institute for Physicians, in Moscow, in 1992. Between 1992-1994 he was the Executive Medical Director of the International project on development of “Elasticity Imaging for Early Diagnosis of Breast and Prostate Cancers” at the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Goukassian arrived in the United States in 1994 where he continued leading the R&D division of this project for another 2 years. In 1995 he decided to further his career in biomedical research and accepted a NIH-funded post-doctoral fellowship in the fields of Aging, Genetics and Biochemistry. In 2001 he accepted a second post-doctoral fellowship in the field of Stem and Progenitor Cell Biology at the Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM). Between 1999 - 2004 he was promoted to Assistant, then Associate Professor of Dermatology and Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. In 2004 he also joined the faculty of Cardiovascular Research Division at TUSM as Associate Professor of Medicine. He was appointed as the Director of Cardiovascular Research Center at Genesys Research Institute, at Steward St Elizabeth’s Medical Center in 2012-2015, where he was leading several major projects in the fields of Cardiovascular Space Radiobiology, Cancer Therapeutics, Stem and Progenitor Cell Biology. In late 2018 he joined Cardiovascular Research Institute at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai as Tenured Professor of Medicine/Cardiology. His most recent research focus is on using integrated physiological approaches along with genomic and epigenetic methodologies to understand molecular mechanisms of space and terrestrial radiation-induced long-term cancer and cardiovascular disease risks, development of mouse models for evaluation of ionizing radiation-induced Excess Relative Risks (ERR), development of predictive biomarkers for estimation of ERR, development of countermeasures for NASA’s future long-duration space missions to Moon, near Earth asteroids and Mars. These studies have significant implications for NASA’s efforts to develop cancer and heart disease risk estimates for astronauts, as well as for prevention of radiation-induced secondary cancer and cardiovascular diseases in cancer patients receiving conventional and particle radiotherapy. Over the years his research publications had been highlighted by local, national, and international outlets and media including Nature Publishing Group, Lancet Oncology, The Scientist Journal, BCC World News, Reuters, ABC, NBC, BBC, US News and World Report, Forbes, and many others. Dr. Goukassian has a wide range of intramural and extramural activities that include reviewer for numerous scientific journals in cardiovascular and cancer fields, past and present member of national and international grant review committees, member of various institutional committees on faculty affairs, MD/PhD admissions, appointment and promotions, research excellence recognition and more. He had been a primary mentor for numerous undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students, including post-doctoral clinical and research fellows, medical resident and visiting scientists from abroad. Dr. Goukassian is the Founder and First Co-President of Armenian Scientific Diaspora Association (ASDA) with its mission to unify the efforts of Armenian Scientific Diaspora so that he could help Armenia as a whole in a coordinated way with research expertise, teaching, training and scientific conferences, encourage scientific collaborations and networking between Armenian diaspora scientists around the globe with scientists in Armenia and serve as a bridge between Armenia and the international scientific community.