Hiruy Meharena is an assistant professor jointly appointed in the neurobiology and molecular biology departments in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego). He received his Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from UC San Diego under the mentorship of Susan Taylor and completed his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Li-Huei Tsai at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In January 2022, Meharena founded the Developmental and Cognitive Genomics Research Group, which focuses on decoding the molecular and cellular underpinnings of neurodevelopmental conditions. His group combines genomics and imaging approaches utilizing human-derived pluripotent stem cell and mouse models to study neurodevelopmental conditions stemming from genomic imbalance or altered chromatin architecture. The ultimate goal is to gain a better understanding of how these conditions result in altered brain development and cognitive functions, which may offer insights into future therapeutic approaches.