Douglas Melton
co-director, Xander University Professor
Harvard’s Stem Cell Institute, HARVARD
Marshall Scholar, Class of 1975 (Cambridge University)
“I love developmental biology because of how lucky one is to be able to work in a field that answers questions about nature, but also can offer something to help people.”
-Douglas Melton
Doug Melton's goal is to cure diabetes. His lab is working to eliminate the present practice of regular blood checks and insulin injections, replacing them with insulin-producing cell transplants, specifically pancreatic beta cells that measure glucose levels and secrete just the right amount of insulin. Dr. Melton’s lab’s clinical trial recently found promising results in a human patient whose body automatically controls its insulin and blood sugar levels after Melton’s treatment. Melton is co-director of Harvard’s Stem Cell Institute and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is also a co-founder and scientific advisory board member of Semma Therapeutics, scientific advisory board member of Fidelity Biosciences, and fiduciary board member of Bluebird Bio.