Bruce M. Spiegelman is the Stanley J. Korsmeyer Professor of Cell Biology and Medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Spiegelman is best known for his studies of the regulation of adipose cells, the development of these cells and their role in diabetes and obesity. Dr. Spiegelman identified the biological function of several central regulators of the development of both white and brown fat cells, including PPARγ, PGC1α and PRDM16. Dr. Spiegelman’s lab, working closely with Dr. Griffin’s lab at The Scripps Research Institute, Scripps Florida, identified a new mechanism of action of the PPARγ-based anti-diabetes drugs, opening this area to a new generation of safer therapies.

Dr. Spiegelman has received a number of major honors, and has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the European Molecular Biology Organization.  In 2012, Dr. Spiegelman received the Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement from the American Diabetes Association, their highest honor. Most recently, he was elected in 2013 to serve as the head of the Metabolics and Physiology section at the National Academy of Sciences. 

Dr. Spiegelman received his B.S. in biology from the College of William and Mary and his Ph. D. in biochemistry from Princeton University.

Patrick R. Griffin is a professor and chair of the department of molecular therapeutics and director of the Translational Research Institute at The Scripps Research Institute, Scripps Florida. Dr. Griffin’s lab is focused on chemical biology and structure-function of nuclear receptors and G-protein coupled receptors. Prior to joining Scripps as a professor in 2004, Dr. Griffin served as the chief scientific officer at ExSAR Corp. Previously, he served as the senior director of chemistry at Merck Research Laboratories, leading a team of 40 scientists that contributed to the discovery of a Phase 2b investigational drug for treatment of pulmonary disease (DMP777) and MK-0431, an FDA-approved oral medication for the management of Type 2 diabetes. While at Merck, Dr. Griffin also headed the proteomics platform. Earlier in his career, he worked as a biochemist at Genentech.

Dr. Griffin received a B.S. in chemistry from Syracuse University and Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Virginia, where he was involved in groundbreaking research in biological mass spectrometry. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship at California Institute of Technology.

C. Ronald Kahn is the Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief academic officer and head of the section on integrative physiology at the Joslin Diabetes Center. Dr. Kahn is the preeminent investigator of insulin signal transduction and mechanisms of altered signaling in disease. His laboratory has produced multiple seminal observations regarding the insulin receptor kinase, its substrates, the molecular components of the insulin signaling network and their alterations in disease that have revolutionized the field. From 2000 to 2007, Dr. Kahn served as president and director of the Joslin Diabetes Center. Under his leadership, Joslin research grew more than 20-fold, clinical and educational activity tripled, and new programs were launched in a variety of areas, including new national business alliances. Prior to that, Dr. Kahn served as research director at Joslin and the head of the section of cellular and molecular physiology of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Dr. Kahn has received numerous national and international honors and awards, has served on many national commissions and advisory boards and has been elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Kahn also holds honorary Doctor of Science degrees from the University of Paris, University of Louisville and University of Geneva, an honorary Doctor of Medicine from the University of Copenhagen and is an honorary Professor at Peking University School of Medicine. Dr. Kahn has also served on the scientific advisory boards of a number of biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

Dr. Kahn received his B.S. and M.D. degrees from the University of Louisville.

Sven Enerbäck is a professor in medical genetics at the University of Gothenburg and the Söderberg Foundation’s endowed chair in experimental medicine. Dr Enerbäck is a well-known international authority in the field of adipocyte biology, particularly in the area of brown adipose tissue. He has been working on how metabolism and differentiation of this tissue is regulated at a molecular level. Along with the research of collaborators, this work led to the identification of metabolically active brown adipose tissue in healthy adults. Previously, this tissue was thought to be present only in infants. Dr. Enerbäck serves as deputy director and member of the scientific advisory board of Cellartis AB, member of the scientific advisory board at Midorion AB and a director of Sentoclone AB. He co-founded Cellartis AB and Sentoclone AB.

Dr. Enerbäck received his M.D. and Ph.D. at the University of Gothenburg and completed his postdoctoral training at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Jeffrey M. Friedman is the Marilyn M. Simpson Professor at The Rockefeller University and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Friedman’s work is devoted to studying the molecular mechanisms that regulate body weight. Dr. Friedman gained worldwide prominence when his research group reported the isolation of the obese (ob) gene in mice and humans and discovered leptin, a hormone that plays a key role in controlling appetite, energy expenditure, and fat storage. He has served as a professor at Rockefeller University for 25 years. Dr. Friedman is a scientific founder of Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Envoy Therapeutics. He is also chair of the scientific advisory board at Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Bay City Capital. He has received numerous international and national awards for his work. His work has been included in Time magazine’s “Best of Science” article in 1995 and 1996, and he received the Grand Prize from Popular Science in 1995. He has been elected to the National Academy of Science and the Institute of Medicine. He has also received Lasker Prize for Basic Research (2010), the Shaw Prize (2009) and the Gairdner Prize (2005).

Dr. Friedman received a B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an M.D. from Albany Medical College and Ph.D. in molecular biology from Rockefeller University. He completed a residency at Albany Medical Center Hospital and a gastroenterology fellowship at Cornell University Medical College. He served as a postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University.

Vamsi K. Mootha is a professor of systems biology and medicine at Harvard Medical School. His laboratory is based in the department of molecular biology and Center for Human Genetic Research at Massachusetts General Hospital and at the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. Dr. Mootha is board certified in internal medicine and specializes in rare mitochondrial diseases. His laboratory uses a blend of genomics, computation and biochemical physiology to systematically study mitochondrial biology. His work has led to the discovery of three genes underlying devastating human metabolic diseases, as well as to the discovery that mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with the common form of Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Dr. Mootha has received a number of professional honors.

Dr. Mootha received his B.S. in mathematical and computational science at Stanford University. He received his M.D. from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. He completed his internship and residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and postdoctoral training at the Whitehead Institute.

Jan Nedergaard is a professor in zoological physiology at the Wenner-Gren Institute of Stockholm University. Dr. Nedergaard began his career as an instructor at the Wenner-Gren Institute and served in various positions until his appointment to professor in 1999. He has been working in the field of brown adipose tissue for 35 years. His research focuses on how brown adipose tissue affects regulation of energy expenditure and thermogenesis. In 2007, Dr. Nedergaard and collaborators were among the first researchers to suggest that brown adipose tissue actually exists in adult humans. Dr. Nedergaard serves as the secretary of the National Committee for Physiology at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He has authored or co-authored 156 peer-reviewed publications and 111 review articles and book chapters. He has served as the keynote, plenary or selected speaker at more than 40 international meetings in the past 10 years.

Dr. Nedergaard received his B.S. in chemistry and biology at the University of Gothenburg and his Ph.D. at Stockholm University. 

Dr. Plutzky directs the Vascular Disease Prevention Program, Cardiovascular Division, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and is on the Harvard Medical School faculty. Dr. Plutzky directs a basic science laboratory that investigates mechanisms linking atherosclerosis and inflammation to obesity, dyslipidemia and diabetes. Dr. Plutzky is widely recognized for his expertise in the basic science of atherosclerosis and metabolism, and his insight into the clinical issues at the intersection of these problems. A former member of the Food and Drug Administration’s Endocrine and Metabolism Physician’s Advisory Panel, Dr. Plutzky is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the National Lipid Association, and the recipient of numerous awards for his work. Dr. Plutzky has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals including Nature Medicine, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Science.

Dr. Plutzky received his B.A. with highest distinction from the University of Virginia and his M.D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, which included an NIH research fellowship. He completed internal medicine residency and cardiology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a post-doctoral research fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Lou Tartaglia has more than 20 years of scientific experience and therapeutic product project leadership and is recognized as a thought leader in obesity and metabolic diseases. Dr. Tartaglia joined Third Rock Ventures in 2007 and plays an integral role in the overall scientific diligence, formation and efforts of portfolio companies and investment opportunities. Previously, Dr. Tartaglia was senior vice president and general manager of GeneLogic; vice president of new ventures at Millennium Pharmaceuticals; and vice president of metabolic diseases at Millennium. Before joining Millennium, he worked at Genentech on tumor necrosis factor receptors. Dr. Tartaglia has published more than 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers, including first authorship on a manuscript selected by Cell as one of the 15 most important papers they have published in the past 30 years. He is currently a board member of Ablexis, Rhythm, and Zafgen.

Dr. Tartaglia received his B.S. in chemistry from the State University of New York at Albany and Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley