Joel Hirschhorn

Joel Hirschhorn is an associate member at the Broad Institute and coordinator of its Metabolism initiative. He also serves as a member of the Medical and Population Genetics steering committee.

Joel applies genetic and genomic methods to study the genetics of complex traits-- diseases and quantitative phenotypes that are influenced by multiple genetic and nongenetic factors. His work focuses on obesity, cardiovascular quantitative traits, and stature (a model complex trait). Joel collaborates with David Altshuler, Mark Daly and others at the Broad to study type 2 diabetes and hormone-responsive cancers. In addition, his research uses population genetic and computational approaches to develop improved methods for deciphering the genetics of common diseases and complex traits.

A recipient of numerous awards, Joel recently received the Young Investigator Award from the Society of Pediatrics Research. He also leads the first American Diabetes Association Smith Family Foundation Pinnacle Program Project. The aim of the pinnacle project is to systematically identify and characterize pathways that are altered in human diabetes and obesity, working toward improved treatments and preventive measures.

Joel is assistant professor of genetics and pediatrics at Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, and has published more than 30 papers on genetics and complex traits.

In 1986, Joel received his A.B. summa cum laude in biochemistry from Harvard College and earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in genetics from Harvard Medical School in 1995. For his Ph.D. work, he employed yeast genetics to study chromatin structure and transcription with Fred Winston. He completed his postdoctoral training with Eric Lander at the Whitehead Institute/MIT Center for Genome Research, now part of the Broad, where he developed and implemented tools and methods to perform and interpret genetic association studies, including genotyping technologies and analytic methods.