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
Trailbazing For a Cure
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 was the Xander University Professor at Harvard University, and was an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute until 2022. Melton is a co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and was an original co-chairman (with David Scadden) of the Harvard University Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. Melton founded of several biotech companies including Gilead Sciences, Ontogeny (now Curis), iPierian (now True North Therapeutics), and Semma Therapeutics. Melton is a member of the National Academy of the Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a founding member of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. In 2022, Melton left Harvard University and joined Vertex Pharmaceuticals full-time to create diabetes treatments.