Keynote Speaker

Dr. David Altshuler, wearing a dark suit jacket on a blue gradient background

David Altshuler, M.D., Ph.D.

Executive Vice President &
Chief Scientific Officer,
Vertex Pharmaceuticals

David Altshuler, M.D., Ph.D., will deliver the Seldin Symposium's keynote address.

Dr. Altshuler holds a bachelor's degree in life sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He received his medical degree and his doctorate in genetics from Harvard Medical School. He then completed clinical training at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

Prior to joining Vertex Pharmaceuticals, he was at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT and was a Professor of Genetics and Medicine at Harvard Medical School and in Department of Biology at MIT. He also served as a faculty member in the Department of Molecular Biology, Center for Human Genetic Research, and the Diabetes Unit of MGH.

During his academic career, he focused his research on human genetic variation and its application to disease. An endocrinologist, he concentrated on the genetic basis of Type 2 diabetes, which his laboratory contributing to mapping dozens of gene variants associated with risk for Type 2 diabetes, lipid levels, myocardial infarction, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, prostate cancer, and other disorders.

In addition to having received numerous awards, including the Curt Stern Award from the American Society of Human Genetics and the Outstanding Scientific Research Award from the American Diabetes Association, Dr. Altshuler is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.