Dr. Laura C. Alonso

Laura C. Alonso, MD, a noted physician-scientist, has been appointed Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Director of the newly established Joan and Sanford I. Weill Center for Metabolic Health at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Alonso succeeds Julianne Imperato-McGinley, MD, who has led the division for the past 25 years.

Dr. Alonso comes to Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, MA. There she served as George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Foundation Term Chair in Diabetes, as well as the Director of Beta Cell Biological Studies in the Diabetes Center of Excellence.

In her new roles at Weill Cornell, Dr. Alonso will seek to advance the division’s already distinguished reputation for clinical excellence. A champion of collaboration, Dr. Alonso will encourage faculty to establish and strengthen interdisciplinary relationships with physicians and scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian, as well as with Cornell University in Ithaca. This commitment extends to the Weill Center for Metabolic Health, which Dr. Alonso will work to develop from its infancy into a world-class diabetes center encompassing basic, translational, and clinical research in diabetes and related metabolic syndromes. The close integration between the division and the Weill Center for Metabolic Health will help prepare the division’s trainees to be well informed with both basic science and clinical care and help create a pipeline of physician-scientists.

As Director of the Weill Center for Metabolic Health, Dr. Alonso will launch new initiatives in research that will accelerate breakthroughs in the scientific understanding of metabolic health and disease with the goal of advancing cutting edge treatments for diabetes and related metabolic syndromes. Her dual role as the inaugural leader of the Weill Center for Metabolic Health will enable her team to more rapidly translate research into care.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Alonso to Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell,” says Anthony N. Hollenberg, MD, Physician-in-Chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. “She is a distinguished physician-scientist whose work in understanding pancreatic beta cell function and regeneration has the potential to transform the paradigm for diabetes care for patients around the world. We couldn’t think of anyone better suited to lead the division than Dr. Alonso.”

About Dr. Alonso

Dr. Alonso is a leading investigator in pancreatic beta cell regeneration with a particular focus on understanding how the pancreas in healthy people is able to produce enough beta cells to meet their need for insulin and approaches to leveraging these discoveries to improve patient care. Her research, which is supported by major grants from the National Institutes of Health and the American Diabetes Association, is published in the top journals in her field. Dr. Alonso also serves on the editorial boards of The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Diabetes, and The FASEB Journal, and is an associate editor for Physiological Reports.

Dr. Alonso is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, a standing member and former Co-Chair of the NIH’s Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology Study Section, and she serves on the organizing panel for the Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association.

Dr. Alonso received her medical degree in 1998 from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She completed her residency training in internal medicine at the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago and fellowships in endocrinology and metabolism at the University of Chicago and New York University. She completed postdoctoral fellowship training in stem cell biology with Dr. Elaine Fuchs at the University of Chicago and The Rockefeller University, and in pancreatic islet biology with Dr. Andrew Stewart at the University of Pittsburgh. She directed Beta Cell Biological Studies at the University of Massachusetts and served as an associate professor there.