Graduate School Faculty
UT Southwestern graduate students work with internationally recognized research leaders who are making groundbreaking discoveries in answering the fundamental questions about human life. From discovering how cells regulate cholesterol to solving the molecular structure of the complex that turns light into chemical energy, Graduate School faculty members are making discoveries through diverse research initiatives. UT Southwestern's faculty includes:
- 6 Nobel Laureates
- 26 members of the National Academy of Sciences
- 20 members of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine)
- 13 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators
- Nobel Prize Winners
Nobel Prize Winners
1985 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Michael Brown, M.D.
Joseph Goldstein, M.D.Drs. Brown and Goldstein personify the team dynamic at the heart of UT Southwestern Medical Center’s approach to research. They shared the 1985 Nobel Prize for their discovery of the underlying mechanisms of cholesterol metabolism. Their findings led to the development of statin drugs, the cholesterol-lowering compounds that today are used by 16 million Americans and are the most widely prescribed medications in the United States. And their discovery is improving more lives every year. New federal cholesterol guidelines will triple the number of Americans taking statin drugs to lower their cholesterol, reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke for countless people.
1988 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Dr. Deisenhofer’s Nobel-winning research used X-ray crystallography to elucidate for the first time the three-dimensional structure of a large membrane-bound protein molecule. This structure helped explain the process of photosynthesis, by which sunlight is converted to chemical energy. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the Nobel Prize, describes photosynthesis as the most important chemical reaction on earth. Dr. Deisenhofer’s ongoing work is helping UT Southwestern advance medical science at the molecular level, by determining the structures of proteins involved in disease.
1994 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Alfred Gilman, M.D., Ph.D.
The late Dr. Gilman’s Nobel-winning studies on “G proteins” discovered a major language that cells use to communicate, that is, how cells receive and respond to external stimuli, thus controlling the most fundamental processes in the human body. Like all of his fellow Nobel Laureates at UT Southwestern, Dr. Gilman was less than 40 years old when he did the work for which he won the Nobel Prize. Great discoveries tend to come from young scientists. Dr. Gilman, a Regental Professor Emeritus who died in December 2015, served in numerous leadership roles at UT Southwestern during his illustrious career, including as Chairman of Pharmacology and subsequently as Provost and Dean of UT Southwestern Medical School.
2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Dr. Beutler, Director of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense at UT Southwestern, shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with two other scientists for their immune system investigations. Dr. Beutler was honored for the discovery of receptor proteins that recognize disease-causing agents and activate innate immunity, the first step in the body’s immune response. The discovery triggered an explosion of research in innate immunity, opening up new avenues for the development of prevention and therapy against infections, cancer, and inflammatory diseases.
2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Thomas Südhof, M.D.
Dr. Südhof, former Chair of the Department at UT Southwestern Medical Center, was one of three scientists awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries of key information about how cellular transport systems work.
- National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
1980 Michael S. Brown, M.D.
1980 Joseph L. Goldstein, M.D.
1984 Jonathan W. Uhr, M.D. (emeritus)
1992 Steven L. McKnight, Ph.D.
1994 Ellen S. Vitetta, Ph.D.
1997 Johann Deisenhofer, Ph.D.
2000 Eric N. Olson, Ph.D.
2003 Joseph S. Takahashi, Ph.D.
2003 Masashi Yanagisawa, M.D., Ph.D. (adjunct)
2006 Melanie H. Cobb, Ph.D.
2006 David W. Russell, Ph.D.
2007 Helen H. Hobbs, M.D.
2008 Bruce A. Beutler, M.D.
2008 David J. Mangelsdorf, Ph.D.
2011 Luis F. Parada, Ph.D. (adjunct)
2014 Zhijian “James” Chen, Ph.D.
2015 Lora V. Hooper, Ph.D.
2015 Steven A. Kliewer, Ph.D.
2020 Joan W. Conaway, Ph.D.
2020 Sean Morrison, Ph.D.
2020 Kim Orth, Ph.D.
2020 Michael Rosen, Ph.D.
2020 Sandra Schmid, Ph.D. (adjunct)
2021 Donald Hilgemann, Ph.D.
2021 Margaret Phillips, Ph.D.
2023 Russell DeBose-Boyd, Ph.D.
2023 Duojia Pan, Ph.D. - National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine)
National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine)
1987 Michael S. Brown, M.D.
1987 Joseph L. Goldstein, M.D.
1995 Scott M. Grundy, M.D., Ph.D.
1998 Carol A. Tamminga, M.D.
1999 Kern Wildenthal, M.D., Ph.D. (emeritus)
2001 Norman F. Gant, M.D. (emeritus)
2001 Eric N. Olson, Ph.D.
2004 Helen Hobbs, M.D.
2005 Steven L. McKnight, Ph.D.
2006 Ellen Vitetta, Ph.D.
2007 Luis F. Parada, Ph.D. (adjunct)
2008 Bruce A. Beutler, M.D.
2009 Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D.
2014 Joseph S. Takahashi, Ph.D.
2018 Sean Morrison, Ph.D.
2020 Ralph DeBerardinis, M.D., Ph.D.
2021 Samuel Achilefu, Ph.D.
2022 Lora V. Hooper, Ph.D.
2022 Zhijian “James” Chen, Ph.D. - American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
1981 Michael S. Brown, M.D.
1981 Joseph L. Goldstein, M.D.
1992 Steven L. McKnight, Ph.D.
1993 Jonathan W. Uhr, M.D. (emeritus)
1998 Eric N. Olson, Ph.D.
2000 Joseph S. Takahashi, Ph.D.
2002 Joan W. Conaway, Ph.D.
2003 Ellen S. Vitetta, Ph.D.
2006 Helen H. Hobbs, M.D.
2007 Luis F. Parada, Ph.D. (adjunct)
2011 David W. Russell, Ph.D.
2013 Bruce A. Beutler, M.D.
2015 Sandra L. Schmid, Ph.D.
2019 Melanie Cobb, Ph.D. - Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators
1993 David J. Mangelsdorf, Ph.D.
2002 Helen H. Hobbs, M.D.
2005 Zhijian “James” Chen, Ph.D.
2005 Michael K. Rosen, Ph.D.
2008 Lora V. Hooper, Ph.D.
2008 Youxing Jiang, Ph.D.
2008 Duojia (DJ) Pan, Ph.D.
2011 Sean J. Morrison, Ph.D.
2015 Joshua Mendell, M.D., Ph.D.
2015 Kim Orth, Ph.D.
2018 Ralph Deberardinis, M.D., Ph.D.
2021 Vincent Tagliabracci, Ph.D.
2021 Benjamin Tu, Ph.D.
UT Southwestern graduates perennially identify the faculty – their teaching skills, mentorship, and accessibility – as one of the great strengths of our institution. Search for details about any of our faculty by name or department/division in the Faculty Directory. Search their lab websites by research interest from the UTSW Laboratories landing page.
