David Altshuler

Clinical endocrinologist and human geneticist David Altshuler is a founding member of the Broad Institute and serves as director of the Broad's program in Medical and Population Genetics. David is one of the world's leading scientists in the study of human genetic variation and its application to disease, using tools and information from the Human Genome Project. He has been a lead investigator in The SNP Consortium, International HapMap Project, and 1000 Genomes Project — public-private partnerships that have created public maps of human genome sequence variation as a foundation for disease research.

David and his colleagues worked for over a decade to make possible genome wide association studies, a new method that has led to the discovery of over 100 new genetic risk factors for common human diseases. David's laboratory has contributed specifically to the discovery of over two dozen genetic contributors to type 2 diabetes, blood cholesterol levels, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and autism. This research helps explain why some people are more likely than others to contract disease, and points to new strategies for prevention, diagnosis and treatment in the clinic.

David is professor of genetics and of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and a member of the Department of Molecular Biology, Center for Human Genetic Research, and Diabetes Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital.

A recipient of numerous awards and honors, David is a councilor of the American Society of Clinical Investigation, a member of the Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, and a member of the board of reviewing editors for the journal Science.

He received his B.S. in 1986 from MIT, Ph.D. in 1993 from Harvard University, and M.D. in 1994 from Harvard Medical School; he completed his internship and residency in internal medicine and clinical fellowship training in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at Massachusetts General Hospital.