Alan R. Saltiel is Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology, Maryam Ahmadian Endowed Chair in Metabolic Health, Director of the Institute for Diabetes and Metabolic Health at UC, San Diego, and Director of the UCSD/UCLA Diabetes Research Center. He received his BA in Zoology from Duke University in 1975 with Magna Cum Laude distinction, and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of North Carolina in 1980. From 1981-1984 he did postdoctoral training with Pedro Cuatrecasas at the Wellcome Research Laboratories in Research Triangle Park, NC, studying mechanisms of insulin action. In 1984 he moved to the Rockefeller University as Assistant Professor, continuing work on the molecular and cellular biology of insulin action. In 1990 he joined Parke Davis Pharmaceutical Research as Distinguished Research Fellow and Senior Director/Vice President of Cell Biology, and directed drug discovery activities in diabetes, obesity and cancer. He was responsible for preclinical studies on troglitazone, the first thiazolidinedione approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. He also developed the first MEK inhibitors for the treatment of cancer-the first received FDA approval 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 founding Director of the Institute, and John Jacob Abel Professor in the Life Sciences. In 2015 he moved to the University of California, San Diego to create the Institute for Diabetes and Metabolic Health; he directs the Institute as well as the UCSD/UCLA Diabetes Research Center.

Dr. Saltiel’s primary contributions concern the specificity of receptor signaling events governing metabolism and cellular growth, and the means by which energy expenditure is controlled in states of caloric overload and restriction. He uncovered a new pathway critical to the stimulation of glucose uptake by insulin, including the cloning of new adapter proteins, the identification of protein interaction domains that ensure the localization of signaling or cytoskeletal proteins, and the understanding of complex crosstalk among signaling networks. He elucidated how insulin controls dephosphorylation in specialized cellular compartments, by cloning the first “molecular scaffolding” proteins. His focus on glycogen metabolism revealed a new signaling role for this interesting molecule in both fat and liver cells. His laboratory also studied the relationship between obesity and insulin resistance, uncovering an unexpected role of the innate immune system as a molecular link between these two states. He has published over 325 papers and holds 19 issued patents. He has an H factor of 115, with over 70,000 citations.

Dr. Saltiel has received numerous awards, including the Rosalyn Yalow Research and Development Award from the American Diabetes Association, and the Hirschl Award. He won the John Jacob Abel, Goodman and Gilman and Pharmacia-ASPET Awards from the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and was named a Fellow in 2022. He was elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and elected to membership in the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the National Academy of Medicine. He has given many named lectures, organized numerous meetings and conferences, and served on a number of advisory panels, scientific and editorial boards, including the Advisory Council of NIDDK. 

In addition to ground-breaking research accomplishments, Saltiel is an inspirational leader, mentoring many students, fellows and junior faculty, including over a hundred students and fellows in his laboratory. As the founding Director of the Life Sciences Institute at the University of Michigan he created a dynamic environment that encouraged young scientists to collaboratively focus on important problems in human health. As the founding Director of the UCSD Institute for Diabetes and Metabolic Health and the UCSD/UCLA Diabetes Research Center he unites scientists to collaborate in metabolic disease, and oversees a fellowship program for undergraduate students in metabolic research at UCSD.

Lab members

Alumni

• Ronald W. Steigerwalt, PhD, UCSF, 1983; Postdoctoral fellow, 1983-84
• Lynn Sorbara, PhD, Albert Einstein School of Medicine, 1986; Postdoctoral fellow, 1986-1989
• David Osterman, PhD, University of Chicago, 1985; Postdoctoral fellow, 1986-1989
• Jennifer Cordes Darnell, PhD, Rockefeller University, 1990; Graduate fellow, 1987-1990
• Betty Chan, MD, University of Toronto, 1984; Postdoctoral fellow, 1987-1988
• Susan Hess, PhD, City University of New York, 1988; Postdoctoral Fellow, 1988-1990
• Tadayo Miyasaka, PhD, Tokyo University, 1987; Research Associate, 1989-1991
• David Misek, PhD, State University of New York, 1986; Postdoctoral fellow, 1989-1993; Research Assistant Professor, University of Michigan  
• Guochang Zhu, MD, Second Medical College, Shanghai, 1984; Postdoctoral fellow, 1989-1991, Senior Research Associate, 1991-1994
• Long Pang, PhD, New York University, 1990; Postdoctoral fellow, 1990-1994
• Masahide Ohmichi, MD, PhD, Osaka Univ. School of Medicine, 1990; Postdoctoral fellow, 1990-1993
• Kim Milarski, PhD, Northwestern University, 1989; Postdoctoral fellow, 1991-1994
• Vered Ribon, PhD, Weizmann Institute of Science, 1992; Postdoctoral fellow, 1992-1999
• Dan Lazar, PhD, University of Michigan; 1992 Postdoctoral fellow, 1992-1997
• Cynthia Mastick, PhD, Carnegie Mellon University, 1990; Postdoctoral fellow, 1993-1995 Associate Professor, University of Nevada, Reno  
• Takeshi Sawada, MD, PhD, Osaka Univ. School of Medicine, 1993; Postdoctoral fellow, 1993-1995
• Li-Jhun Syu, PhD, Michigan State University, 1994; Postdoctoral fellow, 1994-1999 
• Yoichi Noda, PhD, University of Tokyo, 1994; Postdoctoral fellow, 1994-1996
• Matthew Brady, PhD, University of Chicago, 1994; Postdoctoral fellow, 1994-1998 Assistant Professor, University of Chicago  
• Russell Weise, PhD, University of Wisconsin, 1992; Postdoctoral fellow, 1994-1995
• John Printen, PhD, University of Oregon, 1995; Postdoctoral fellow, 1995-1998
• Man Chang, PhD, Wayne State University, 1995; Postdoctoral fellow, 1996-1999
• Christian Baumann, PhD, George Washington University, 1997; Postdoctoral fellow, 1997-2000
• Jing Min, PhD, University of Chicago, 1997; Postdoctoral fellow, 1997-1999
• Noel Fong, PhD, University of California, Davis, 1998; Postdoctoral fellow, 1998-2000
• Barry Press, PhD, Northwestern University, 1998; Postdoctoral fellow, 1998-1999
• Shian-Huey Chiang, PhD, University of Michigan, 2001; Graduate fellow, 1998-2001
• Jeffrey Skinner, PhD, Purdue University, 1998; Postdoctoral fellow, 1998-2002
• Akiko Kimura, MD, PhD, Osaka University School of Medicine, 1999; Postdoctoral fellow, 1999-2002
• Marie Legendre, University of Paris, Visiting Graduate Fellow, 2001-2002
• Sean Crosson, PhD, University of Saskatchewan, 1999; Postdoctoral fellow, 2000-2004
• Yoko Okamoto, MD, PhD, Postdoctoral fellow, 2001-2004
• Joseph B. Hwang, PhD, Postdoctoral fellow, 2000-2004
• Xiaoming Zhou, MD, PhD, Nanjin University, 1999. Postdoctoral fellow, 2004-2005
• Louise Chang, PhD, Boston University, 2000. Postdoctoral fellow, 2000-2005
• Jun Liu, MD, PhD, Postdoctoral fellow, 2001-2006; Assistant Professor, Mayo Clinic  
• Irfan J. Lodhi, PhD, Graduate Student, 2001-2007; Postdoctoral Fellow, Washington University.
• Mayumi Inoue, MD, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2001-2007; Research Scientist, University of Michigan
• Merlijn Bazuine, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2004-2008
• Mei Zhang, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2002-2008
• Carey Lumeng, MD PhD, Clinical Lecturer, 2003-2008; Assistant Professor, University of  Michigan  
• Xiao-Wei Chen, PhD, Graduate Student, 2002-2008
• Alan Cheng, PhD, Research Fellow, 2004-2010; Assistant Professor, Louisville University
• Jing-Tyan Ma Visiting Graduate Fellow, 2008-2010; Institute of Genetics, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
• Christina Sherry, Research Fellow, 2009-2010
• Shian-Huey Chiang, Research Fellow, 2005-2011
• David Bridges, PhD, University of Calgary, 2005. Postdoctoral fellow, 2005-2013
• Dara Leto, PhD, University of Michigan, Graduate Fellow, 2006-2011 
• Nicole Maher, Research Fellow, 2007-2011
• Tingting Xiong, MD, PhD, University of Michigan, Graduate Fellow, 2007-2012
• Nicole White, PhD, Case Western Reserve University, 2007. Postdoctoral fellow, 2007- 2011
• Jonathan Mowers, MD, PhD, University of Michigan, MSTP fellow, 2008-2012
• Binbin Liu, PhD, Michigan State University, 2009. Postdoctoral Fellow, 2009-2014
• Irit Hochberg, MD, PhD, Rambam Medical School, Technion, Israel, 2002. Postdoctoral Fellow, 2010-2012 
• Maeran Uhm, University of Michigan, Graduate Fellow, 2010-2015
• David Buchner, PhD, University of Michigan, 2008. Research Associate, 2010-2013
• Shannon Reilly, PhD, Harvard University, 2011. Postdoctoral Fellow, 2011-2015
• Sheela Karunanithi, PhD, University of Buffalo, 2012. Postdoctoral Fellow, 2012-2014
• Guanan Wang, PhD, University of Arizona, 2012. Postdoctoral Fellow, 2013-2014
• Prasanth Nair, PhD, University of British Columbia, 2013. Postdoctoral Fellow, 2014-2015
• Peng Zhao, Ph.D., Louisiana State University, 2015. Postdoctoral fellow, 2015-2021
• Omer Keinan, Ph.D., Weizmann Institute of Science, 2015. Postdoctoral fellow, 2015-2021
• Mohammed Abu-Odeh, Ph.D., Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School, 2015; Postdoctoral fellow, 2016-2020​
• Anna Cheang, Ph.D., School of Biomedical Sciences, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014; Postdoctoral fellow, 2016-2018
• Keolu Fox, Ph.D., Department of Genetics, University of Washington, 2016; Postdoctoral fellow, 2016-2018
• Chao-Wei Hung, Ph.D., Department of Biochemistry, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2016; Postdoctoral fellow, 2016-present
• Jinyoung Huh, Ph.D., Department of Biology, Seoul National University, 2016; postdoctoral fellow, 2017-2020
• Marianne Jager, Medical Student, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany, Graduate Fellow, 2017-2018
• Wenmin Xia, Ph.D., University of Graz, Graduate Fellow, 2017-2018, Postdoctoral fellow, 2019-2024
• Di Yang, Ph.D., Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology, University of California, Berkeley, 2017, Postdoctoral fellow, 2018-2019
• Churaibhon Wisessaowapak, Graduate Fulbright Fellow, Chulabhorn Graduate Institute, Bangkok, Thailand, 2019-2020
• Bichen Zhang, Ph.D., Yale University, 2021, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2021-present
• Seunghwan Son, Ph.D., Yonsei University, Korea, 2020, Postdoctoral fellow, 2021-present
• Xue Feng, Ph.D., Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2021, Postdoctoral fellow, 2022-present
• Haipeng Fu, Ph.D., School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, 2022, Postdoctoral fellow, 2022-present
• Hong Gao, Ph.D., Zhejiang University, 2015, Postdoctoral fellow, 2022-2023 
• Churaibhon (Fai) Wisessaowapa Ph.D, Chulabhorn Graduate Institute, Bangkok, Thailand, 2022-present
• Hyeonhui Kim, Ph.D, Yonsei University, Korea, Postdoctoral fellow, 2024-present
• Jeongmin Lee, Ph.D, Washington University in St. Louis, 2024. Postdoctoral fellow, 2025-present

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In Memorium

Maryam Ahmadian, PhD 1982-2020

 We remember our colleague Maryam, an outstanding scientist and friend. She graduated from UCSD in 2004 with a B.S. in Biochemistry as a Regents Scholar. After discovering a passion for research while working in a laboratory as an undergraduate, she attended graduate school at UC, Berkeley, receiving her Ph.D. in 2010 in Metabolic Biology. Working under the supervision of Professor Hei Sook Sul, she made seminal contributions to our understanding of how fat cells are regulated, publishing several ground-breaking studies in the highest impact journals. In 2011 she joined the laboratory of Ron Evans at the Salk Institute, and continued to excel in studying the basic aspects of fat cell biology, and explaining how living organisms respond to cold stress. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in 2014, but nevertheless made outstanding progress and published several papers in top international journals, a testament to her determination and commitment as a scientist. In 2017 she joined our lab as an Assistant Professor. Maryam led a dedicated group of students and postdoctoral fellows, continuing to study the underlying basis of obesity and type 2 diabetes. During her short career, Maryam won numerous awards and fellowships, and traveled throughout the world to present her work at scientific conferences. As an outstanding scientist, excellent collaborator, wonderful teacher and thought leader in the field, she was well on her way to developing an international reputation as a rising young investigator.