Dr. Gaan received his Ph.D in biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame. He did his post-doctoral training at the Delta Research Center of Tulane University. He was a research assistant professor at the Medical University of South Carolina while he attended medical school. Dr. Gaan was a recipient of a NIH Grant and a Muscular Dystrophy Grant to study the biosynthesis and degradation of glycosphingolipid. He was subsequently in private practice and was a voluntary attending physician at Mt. Sinai Medical Center before he joined the Weill Cornell Medical College.