Director, Weill Center for Metabolic Health
Chief, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
As a practicing endocrinologist, I help patients manage their diabetes and its complications. Diabetes results from beta cell failure to meet insulin demand. I believe the best long-term strategy to fix diabetes is restoring pancreatic beta cell mass and function.
Between 2000-2005, as an endocrinology fellow, I had the great fortune to train with Elaine Fuchs, Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientist and recipient of a National Medal of Science. As a postdoc and then Instructor at the University of Pittsburgh, under the guidance of Andrew Stewart, I entered the field of islet biology.
My research career started with an NIDDK K08-award to develop an in vivo mouse hyperglycemia model, through direct intravenous infusion. This versatile model is useful for mouse genetic studies, parallel in vivo and in vitro studies, co-infusion of drug or other nutrients, in vivo exposure of engrafted human islets.
Exploring the root causes of beta cell mass expansion during hyperglycemia, we made the seminal observation that activation of the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) in beta cells functions as a sensor of hyperglycemia that triggers beta cell proliferation.
The Alonso Lab today focuses on how the ER stress response impacts beta cell number and health across the lifespan, with a particular current interest in ATF6.
Honors:
2023 Fellow, Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM)
2021 Organizing committee, Keystone Symposia: Diabetes, Many Faces of the Disease
2020 – 2022 Chair, CSME Study Section, NIH, CSR
2018 – 2022 Permanent Member, Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology (MCE-CSME)
2018 – 2022 Associate Editor, Physiological Reports
2018 Organizer, Boston Ithaca Islet Club meeting hosted at UMass Medical School
2018 Elected to American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI)
2017 – 2020 Organizing Committee, Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association
2017 Editorial Boards: Journal of Biological Chemistry and Diabetes
2016 – 2017 Standing member, NIH R13 Conference grant review panel
2016 Editorial Board, FASEB Journal
2015 The George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Foundation Term Chair in Diabetes, Fuller Foundation
2014 Member, Scientific Review Committee, T1Diabetes Exchange Biobank
2013 – 2016 Editorial Board, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
2013 Co-Chair, Research Grant Review Committee, American Diabetes Association
1998 Finalist, Spencer G. Morris Award (top 4, medical school class), U. Pennsylvania
1997 Alpha Omega Alpha, Medical Honor Society
1995 Four Schools Physician Scientist Scholar, U. Pennsylvania
1994 Fight for Sight Student Research Scholarship, Fight for Sight
1993 Dr. Mary Ellen Mangano Award for Leadership, Harvard Women's Swim Team
1992 John Harvard Scholarship for Academic Excellence, Harvard College
1990 Elizabeth Cary Agassiz Award for Academic Excellence, Harvard College
1989 National Merit Scholar
1989 Golden Plate Award, American Academy of Achievement