Ulhas P Naik obtained his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Bombay. In 2014, he moved to Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia as a Professor of Medicine to establish the Cardeza Center for Vascular Biology Research. He is currently the founding Director of the Center and the Associate Director of the Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research. He has authored more than 150 original scientific publications, largely devoted to the study of cell adhesion mechanisms. He has served on numerous Federal and non-federal peer review committees. Naik has served as a Managing Editor of the Frontiers in Bioscience and on the editorial boards of Blood, Cell Adhesion and Migration, the Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis Journal, and the Journal of Signal Transduction. He is a member of the American Society of Hematology, International Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis, and is a Fellow of the American Heart Association. He has received numerous honors including the Mario Toppo Distinguished Scientist Award, ASIOA Service Award, Juan Villamarin Mentor of the Year Award, and Delaware INBRE Leadership Award. At Thomas Jefferson University, Naik was nominated twice for the Distinguished Mentor of the Year Award in 2015 and 2018. He received the Dean's Transformational Science Award two years in a row, 2017 and 2018.