Ralph A DeFronzo

Ralph A DeFronzo, MD, is a Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Diabetes Division at UT Health San Antonio's Long School of Medicine. He holds the Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long Distinguished Chair in Diabetes. His career spans over 40 years, with foundational contributions to diabetes research, including the discovery of insulin resistance as a central feature of Type 2 diabetes, the development of metformin, and the invention of SGLT2 inhibitors like dapagliflozin. He is Deputy Director of the Texas Diabetes Institute and leads NIH-funded research on diabetes pathogenesis and therapy.

Education: Yale University (Biology/Biochemistry), Harvard Medical School. Training: Johns Hopkins (Internal Medicine), NIH/National City Hospital (Endocrinology), University of Pennsylvania (Nephrology).

Research focuses on insulin resistance, beta-cell dysfunction, and novel treatments. Major achievements include the EDICT study influencing ADA guidelines, and recent work on type 1 diabetes cure strategies with Dr. Bruno Doiron.

Scientific awards include the Banting Award (ADA), Claude Bernard Award (EASD), and Prince Mahidol Award (2022). He has authored over 850 publications and edited the International Textbook of Diabetes Mellitus, with an H-index of 1.85.

Grants: Continuously funded by NIDDK/NIH since 1975 (53 years). Currently PI/Co-PI on four NIH grants. Active in mentoring over 200 young investigators.

Labs/Teams: Texas Diabetes Institute, collaborative projects on islet regeneration and SGLT2 pharmacology.