Principal Investigator
Dr. Elmquist is the Vice Chair of Research for Internal Medicine, Carl H. Westcott Distinguished Chair in Medical Research, Professor of Internal Medicine, Pharmacology, and the Maclin Family Professor in Medical Science at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He is the founding Director of the Center for Hypothalamic Research at UT Southwestern. He received his DVM in 1992 and his PhD in 1993 from Iowa State University. He next moved to Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Medical Center to receive postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Clifford B. Saper. In 1996, he was recruited to the Endocrine Division of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center by Dr. Jeffery Flier, to start his independent laboratory focusing on identifying brain sites of action of the recently discovered hormone leptin. At BIDMC, Dr. Elmquist and his collaborator Dr. Brad Lowell, pioneered the use of mouse genetics to understand how the brain controls energy balance and glucose homeostasis. In 2006, he was recruited to UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas to establish a group focused on understanding brain pathways controlling body weight and metabolism. Dr. Elmquist serves on the editorial boards of several major scientific journals. He has served on numerous NIH study sections and recently was a member of the NIDDK Advisory Council. In 2008, he was the recipient of the Ernest Oppenheimer Award from The Endocrine Society. In 2012, he received the Excellence in Postdoctoral Mentoring Award from UT Southwestern. In 2014 he received the Stange Award from Iowa State University. In 2014, he was chosen by the American Diabetes Association as the recipient of the Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award supported by Eli Lilly and Company. In 2014, Dr. Elmquist received the Mentor of the Year Award from the National Postdoctoral Association, in recognition of exceptional mentoring of postdoctoral scholars.