David Matthew Altshuler (born August 27, 1964) is a clinical

endocrinologist Endocrinology (from ''endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental events ...

and human

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic process ...

. He is Executive Vice President, Global Research and Chief Scientific Officer at

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is an American biopharmaceutical company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was one of the first biotech firms to use an explicit strategy of rational drug design rather than combinatorial chemistry. It maint ...

. Prior to joining Vertex in 2014, he was at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and was a Professor of Genetics and Medicine at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

, and in the Department of Biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was also a faculty member in the Department of Molecular Biology, Center for Human Genetic Research, and the Diabetes Unit, all at

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

. He was one of four Founding Core Members of the

Broad Institute The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (IPA: , pronunciation respelling: ), often referred to as the Broad Institute, is a biomedical and genomic research center located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The institu ...

, and served as the Institute's Deputy Director, Chief Academic Officer, and Director of the Program in Medical and Population Genetics.

Education

Altshuler attended

Commonwealth School Commonwealth School, often referred to simply as Commonwealth, is a private, co-educational high school of about 150 students and 35 faculty members located in the downtown Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is acc ...

in Boston, received his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

from

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, and his

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

from

. He completed his internship, residency, and clinical fellowship training at

Research

Altshuler's academic research focused on human

genetic variation Genetic variation is the difference in DNA among individuals or the differences between populations among the same species. The multiple sources of genetic variation include mutation and genetic recombination. Mutations are the ultimate sources ...

and its application to disease, using information from the

Human Genome Project The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international scientific research project with the goal of determining the base pairs that make up human DNA, and of identifying, mapping and sequencing all of the genes of the human genome from both a ...

. He has co-led the SNP Consortium,

International HapMap Project The International HapMap Project was an organization that aimed to develop a haplotype map (HapMap) of the human genome, to describe the common patterns of human genetic variation. HapMap is used to find genetic variants affecting health, disease ...

, and

1000 Genomes Project The 1000 Genomes Project (1KGP), taken place from January 2008 to 2015, was an international research effort to establish the most detailed catalogue of human genetic variation at the time. Scientists planned to sequence the genomes of at least o ...

David Altshuler publications in Google Scholar
/ref> His research focused on the genetic basis of Type 2 Diabetes, and his laboratory contributed to mapping dozens of gene variants that are associated with risk of Type 2 Diabetes, lipid levels, myocardial infarction, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, prostate cancer, and other disorders.

Awards and honors

Among his awards is election to the

American Society for Clinical Investigation The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), established in 1908, is one of the oldest and most respected medical honor societies in the United States. Organization and purpose The ASCI is an honorary society to which more than 2,800 p ...

, the

Association of American Physicians The Association of American Physicians (AAP) is an honorary medical society founded in 1885 by the Canadian physician Sir William Osler and six other distinguished physicians of his era for "the advancement of scientific and practical medicine ...

, and the

Institute of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

. He is a member of the board of directors of the

American Society of Human Genetics The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG), founded in 1948, is a professional membership organization for specialists in human genetics. As of 2009, the organization had approximately 8,000 members. The society's members include researchers, ...

and was previously a member of the board of

. In 2011 he won the

Curt Stern Award The ASHG Scientific Achievement Award was established in 2001 and is presented annually by the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) for outstanding scientific achievements in human genetics that have occurred in the last 10 years. The award w ...

of the

, and in 2012 the Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award of the

American Diabetes Association The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a United States-based nonprofit that seeks to educate the public about diabetes and to help those affected by it through funding research to manage, cure and prevent diabetes, including type 1 diabetes ...

. He is a member of the board of trustees of Becket Chimney Corners YMCA.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Altshuler, David American geneticists Commonwealth School alumni Harvard Medical School alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni Living people 1964 births Members of the National Academy of Medicine