Leadership

Vice Chancellor, Health Sciences, David Brenner, MD

Dr. David BrennerDr. David Brenner is vice chancellor for health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. In this role, he leads the School of Medicine, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of California, San Diego, and UC San Diego Health.

A distinguished physician-scientist and leader in the field of gastroenterological research, Dr. Brenner first joined UC San Diego Health in 1985 as a gastroenterology fellow, later joining the School of Medicine faculty, and serving as a physician at Veterans Affairs (VA) San Diego Healthcare System. He also served as a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences and a Clinical Investigator in the VA system. In 1993, Dr. Brenner became professor and chief of the Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he continued to earn accolades for his patient care and research.

He was ultimately recruited to UC San Diego Health from Columbia University Medical Center College of Physicians and Surgeons, where from 2003 to 2007 he was Samuel Bard Professor and chair of the Department of Medicine, a member of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, a member of the Columbia University Institute of Nutrition, and physician-in-chief of New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia.

Dr. Brenner’s professional memberships include the American Society for Clinical Investigation; the Association of American Physicians, for which he is currently President-Elect; the American College of Physicians; the American Gastroenterological Association, and the American Clinical and Climatological Association. He is also on the board of directors of two philanthropic foundations, the AlphaOne Foundation and the Alcoholic Beverage Medical Research Foundation. Dr. Brenner has also been published numerous times and serves on several editorial boards.

He earned his medical degree from the Yale University School of Medicine. After completing his residency at Yale-New Haven Medical Center, he served as a research associate in the Genetics and Biochemistry Branch of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
 

IDMH Director Alan Saltiel, PhD

Dr. Alan SaltielAlan Saltiel received his AB in zoology from Duke University in 1975 with magna cum laude distinction, and his PhD in biochemistry from the University of North Carolina in 1980. Following postdoctoral training with Pedro Cuatrecasas at the Wellcome Research Laboratories, he moved to the Rockefeller University as assistant professor in 1984, continuing work on the molecular and cellular biology of the actions of insulin and growth factors.

In 1990, he joined Parke Davis Pharmaceutical Research as Distinguished Research Fellow and Senior Director of Cell Biology, and directed drug discovery activities in diabetes, obesity and cancer. He was responsible for preclinical development of troglitazone, the first thiazolidinedione approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. He also developed the first MEK inhibitors for the treatment of cancer – now approved for melanoma and other cancers.

In 2001, Dr. Saltiel moved to the newly created Life Sciences Institute of the University of Michigan and was named Director of the Institute, and John Jacob Abel Professor in the Life Sciences. The Institute is now home to 30 faculty and over 400 scientists in all areas of life sciences.

In 2015, he moved to UC San Diego to create and lead the Institute for Diabetes and Metabolic Health, and he serves as professor of medicine and pharmacology.

He has received numerous awards, including the Rosalyn Yalow Research and Development Award from the American Diabetes Association, the Hirschl Award, the John Jacob Abel and the Goodman and Gilman Awards from ASPET, was elected to membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the National Academy of Medicine. He has given many named lectures and organized numerous meetings and conferences, and served on a number of advisory panels, scientific and editorial boards. He has eighteen issued patents and has published over 280 original papers.

Visit Dr. Saltiel's Laboratory Website