The Diabetes Center is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Anderson, MD, PhD as Director, after serving in an interim capacity since December 2020. Dr. Anderson joined the UCSF faculty in 2003, and is the Robert Friend and Michelle M. Friend Endowed Chair in Diabetes Research. A leading expert in the understanding of autoimmune diseases and their underpinnings, Dr. Anderson cares for adult patients with type 1 diabetes or other autoimmune endocrine diseases.
In his research, Dr. Anderson focuses on the genetic and molecular underpinnings of such autoimmune diseases as type 1 diabetes and Hashimoto's disease. His lab has a particular interest in how T cells – white blood cells that mature in the thymus gland and play an important role in immune response – can provoke autoimmunity.
As a leader in the translation of Immunology to human health, Dr. Anderson is a co-founder of ImmunoX, a novel program to harness the immune system for human health at UCSF. He also recently served for nine years as Director of the UCSF Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP).
"I have been impressed with Dr. Anderson’s interim leadership of the Diabetes Center, particularly his ability to unite diabetes-related research, patient care, and education efforts at UCSF," said Talmadge E. King, Jr., MD, Dean of the School of Medicine. "Given Dr. Anderson’s exemplary track record in the field of diabetes research, his deep commitment to cross-disciplinary teaching and training, and his extensive national experience with diabetes leadership, he will be an asset to the Diabetes Center’s continued efforts to advance the care and treatment of patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes worldwide, with the ultimate goal of curing the disease."
Dr. Anderson serves as the President of the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS), is on the advisory committee for Pathway to Stop Diabetes – a program to support diabetes researchers initiated by the American Diabetes Association, and also serves as a Deputy Director in the NIAID/NIH-sponsored Immune Tolerance Network (ITN) whose focus is on achieving lasting tolerance in autoimmunity, allergy, and transplantation. He has served as chair of the Hypersensitivity, Autoimmune and Immune-mediated Disease (HAI) study section for the National Institutes of Health, and was elected into the National Academy of Medicine in 2020.
Dr. Anderson is a member of the American Diabetes Association, American Association of Immunologists, American Society for Clinical Investigation, Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies, Henry Kunkel Society and Association of American Physicians.
We express our appreciation to Matthias Hebrok PhD, who served as the Director of the Diabetes Center at UCSF for 10 years, prior to Dr. Anderson’s appointment, and would also like to thank the search committee, chaired by Elizabeth Murphy, MD, PhD, for their work in considering an exceptional pool of candidates from across the country for this position.