Donald A. McClain, M.D., Ph.D
Donald A. McClain, M.D., Ph.D., graduated summa cum laude from Haverford College and received his MD and PhD degrees from the Rockefeller University/ Cornell Medical School Biomedical Sciences Program in 1979. His thesis work was performed in the laboratory of Nobel laureate, Gerald Edelman and served on the faculty at the Rockefeller University. He then completed his training in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology at Stanford and the University of California at San Diego, and is board certified in internal medicine and endocrinology. Dr. McClain is currently a Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at the University of Utah School of Medicine, where he holds the Bettilyon Chair in Diabetes Research. After serving as the Director of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism for eight years, in 2008 he assumed the Directorship of the Huntsman General Clinical Research Center and became co-Director of the NIH-funded Center for Clinical and Translational Science. His current research program, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Veterans Administration, is aimed at further understanding the pathogenesis of diabetes and its complications, using both human studies and animal models. The research includes projects on the mechanisms by which excess macronutrients cause impaired insulin signaling and the mechanisms by which iron contributes to diabetes and obesity.
