Biosketch

Dr. Nada Abumrad is a Lebanese-American scientist internationally recognized for her pioneering work in metabolic research. She currently holds the Dr. Robert C. Atkins Professorship of Medicine and Obesity Research at the Washington University School of Medicine—the first endowed chair in the United States dedicated to the study of obesity. Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms regulating fatty acid metabolism and their role in conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and atherosclerosis.

Dr. Abumrad was the first to identify the membrane protein CD36 as a key facilitator of fatty acid uptake, a discovery that has significantly shaped our understanding of energy balance and metabolic disease. Her work bridges fundamental mechanisms of nutrient transport with translational studies aimed at addressing metabolic disorders in humans. She is widely published in top-tier journals, including Nature Genetics, Journal of Clinical Investigation, and Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Born and raised in Beirut, Dr. Abumrad completed her undergraduate studies at the Faculté des Sciences and the American University of Beirut before earning her doctorate in pharmacology from the State University of New York (SUNY) Medical Center. Her academic appointments have included Vanderbilt University, SUNY Stony Brook, and since 2004, Washington University in St. Louis, where she is affiliated with the Division of Nutritional Science and Obesity Medicine and the Diabetes Research Center.

Dr. Abumrad also serves as an editor of Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care and contributes regularly to NIH scientific review panels. Her leadership and scholarship continue to advance the field of metabolic research and inspire generations of scientists worldwide.