3. The Molecular Basis of Insulin Action
(31 mins)

Dr. White is an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He also holds the position of Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Associate Scientific Staff at Children's Hospital Boston. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan, working with Halvor Christensen on amino acid transport. After his days at the University of Michigan, he moved to the Joslin Diabetes Center, where he began his studies on the molecular aspects of insulin signaling with C. Ronald Kahn and later established his own laboratory. In 2004, Dr. White moved his laboratory to the Endocrinology Division of the Department of Medicine at Children's Hospital Boston. Dr. White was a Pew scholar in the biomedical sciences and received the Boehringer Mannheim/Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International Diabetes Care Research Award and the Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award from the American Diabetes Association. Morris White investigates the molecular basis of insulin signal transduction to understand the pathophysiology of diabetes and other disorders, including obesity, infertility, and cardiovascular and retinal disease. His studies of the insulin-signaling network reveal common elements that promote peripheral insulin action, pancreatic beta-cell growth and function, and hypothalamic control of nutrient homeostasis and fertility. His work may reveal new strategies to treat dysregulated nutrient metabolism and diabetes.