Daniel J. Drucker, M.D., FRCPC
Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto
Director, Banting and Best Diabetes Centre, University of Toronto

Dr. Daniel J. Drucker is currently a Professor of Medicine, a member of the Endocrinology Division at the University of Toronto and Director of the Banting and Best Diabetes Centre at the University of Toronto. He is a foremost expert on the subject of enteric hormones. He received training in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and Toronto General Hospital, University of Toronto. Following completion of a research fellowship in Molecular Endocrinology at Massachusetts General Hospital, he established his own laboratory research program in 1987 in Toronto. His laboratory studies the synthesis, secretion, and mechanism of action of glucagon-like peptides. Specific areas of interest include how glucagon, GLP-1, GLP-2, and the enzyme DPP IV (dipeptidyl peptidase IV) regulate metabolic pathways that control food intake, nutrient absorption and disposal, and intestinal mucosal integrity. Dr. Drucker is an Editor of the journal Endocrinology, and the recipient of Outstanding Investigator Awards from the Canadian Diabetes Association, the Endocrine Society, and the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation. He also has been elected to membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. Dr. Drucker received his M.D. degree from the University of Toronto in 1980 and received his FRCPC in Internal Medicine from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 1984.

Alfred Goldberg, Ph.D
Professor of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Goldberg, a Professor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School, has been on the faculty of that institution for nearly his entire academic career. His important discoveries have concerned the biochemical mechanisms and physiological regulation of protein breakdown in cells and the importance of this process in human disease. His laboratory first demonstrated the non-lysosomal ATP-dependent pathway for protein breakdown, which is now termed the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. They first demonstrated the involvement of the 20S and 26S proteasomes in this process and discovered the ATP-dependent proteases responsible for protein degradation in bacteria and mitochondria. He and his colleagues also first introduced proteasome inhibitors that are now widely used as research tools. He also initiated the efforts that led to the development of the proteasome inhibitor, Bortezomib (Velcade), currently widely used in the treatment of multiple myeloma.

Dr. Goldberg received his A.B. degree in Biochemistry and his Ph.D. in Physiology in 1968 from Harvard University, after attending Cambridge University and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Goldberg’s accomplishments have been recognized with many awards and honored with many distinguished lectureships. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and is among the top 1% of most cited authors in the life sciences. He has served on the Scientific Advisory Boards for a number of biotechnology companies, was a founder of ProScript, and has been a consultant to a number of major pharmaceutical companies.

Antonio M. Gotto, Jr., M.D.
Stephen And Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Dr. Gotto is the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York, New York and joined the Board of Directors of Arisaph in 2006. He is also a professor of medicine. An internationally recognized authority on cardiovascular disease, Dr. Gotto was first named dean of Weill Cornell in 1997. During his previous tenure at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, he was the Bob and Vivian Smith Professor, chairman of the Department of Medicine, Scientific Director of the DeBakey Heart Center and held the JS Abercrombie Professor Chair for Atherosclerosis and Lipoprotein Research. He also served as chief of the Internal Medicine Service at The Methodist Hospital in Houston.

In the field of atherosclerosis, his basic science research interests include clinical disorders of lipid transport and the structure, metabolism, and function of lipoproteins and apolipoproteins. He and his associates were the first to achieve complete synthesis of a plasma apolipoprotein (apo C-I) and they also determined the complete cDNA and amino acid sequence of apo B-100, one of the largest proteins ever sequenced and a key protein in atherosclerosis. Dr. Gotto has also played a leading role in several landmark clinical trials demonstrating that cholesterol-lowering drug treatment can reduce the risk for heart disease. Dr. Gotto’s postgraduate work included doctoral studies at Oxford University in England, as a Rhodes Scholar, and residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Dr. Gotto received his M.D. and B.A. degrees from Vanderbilt University.

Vijay Kumar Kuchroo, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Professor of Neurology at Harvard University

Dr. Vijay K. Kuchroo is a Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Associate Immunologist at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Kuchroo's major research interests focus on studying the autoimmune diseases, including Type I diabetes. In this connection, Dr. Kuchroo has contributed to Arisaph’s research program with respect to the role of DPP IV inhibitors in Type I diabetes. Dr. Kuchroo has published over 100 original papers and numerous review articles and serves on the editorial boards of the Autoimmunity Journal and Journal of Experimental Medicine. Based on his contributions, Dr. Kuchroo recently became the first recipient of the Samuel L. Wasserstrom Professor of Neurology Chair at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kuchroo obtained a degree in Veterinary Medicine from the School of Veterinary Medicine in Hisar, India and obtained a Ph.D. in Pathology from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.

Rudolph Leibel, M.D.
Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

Dr. Rudolph Leibel is a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, head of the Division of Molecular Genetics at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Co-Director of the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center, and Deputy Director of the New York Obesity Research Center. Dr. Leibel is an internationally recognized expert in the genetic and metabolic base of obesity and participated in the discovery of the leptin and leptin receptor genes. Dr. Leibel's research is focused on the molecular physiology of the regulation of body weight in rodents and humans, and on the genetics and molecular genetics of Type II diabetes mellitus. He is particularly interested in the molecular physiology of the energy homeostasis and the molecular genetics of Type II diabetes. He is an expert in the use of naturally occurring and transgenic rodent models to identify candidate molecules and in vetting these candidates in large numbers of human subjects using high throughput methods. Dr. Leibel serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Clinical Investigation and the International Journal of Obesity and Obesity Research. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. A graduate of Colgate University, Dr. Leibel received an M.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Alan R. Tall, M.D.
Tilden Weger Bieler Professor of Medicine, Columbia University

Dr. Tall, a Professor of Medicine at Columbia University, is internationally recognized for his work in plasma lipoprotein metabolism and atherosclerosis, especially the regulation and metabolism of plasma high density lipoproteins (HDL), a protective factor against atherosclerosis. He discovered mutations in the cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) gene that are associated with dramatically increased HDL levels, establishing a key role for this factor in the regulation of HDL levels. More recently, Dr. Tall has done research on the ATP binding cassette transporters that promote cholesterol efflux from macrophage foam cells to HDL particles.

Dr. Tall is currently head of the Cardiovascular Research Initiative of Columbia University and the Tilden-Weger-Bieler Professor of Medicine, Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics and head of the Division of Molecular Medicine of the Department of Medicine. He is the Principal Investigator for an NIH-funded program project entitled “New Genes and Pathways in Atherosclerosis”, and a project leader on a second recently funded program concerning the role of insulin resistance in atherosclerosis in Type II diabetes. Dr. Tall is a member of the Association of American Physicians and has served on the Board of Scientific Councilors of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the Research Committee and the Arteriosclerosis Council of the American Heart Association. He has recently served as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Clinical Investigation and is currently on the editorial board of this journal, in addition to those of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. Dr. Tall obtained his medical degree from the University of Sydney and did residency and post-doctoral training at Boston University.