Steven K Grinspoon

Dr. Steven Grinspoon is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Chief of the MGH Metabolism Unit, and Director of the Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard. His work investigates the neuroendocrine regulation of body composition, and physiologic consequences of fat distribution on cardiovascular disease and inflammation. He has investigated the effects of reduced growth hormone on metabolic dysregulation in obesity and was the first to propose the use of a GHRH analogue to increase endogenous GH secretion on lipodystrophy and generalized obesity, which led to the FDA approval of tesamorelin for excess visceral fat accumulation in HIV-infected patients. This work has now been extended to show robust effects on NAFLD. More recently, his research focuses on the inflammatory mechanisms by which ectopic fat and other metabolic perturbations contribute to HIV-CVD, and in this regard, he led the AHA State of the Science Conference on CVD in HIV. Additionally, he is leading the large multicenter REPRIEVE study, the first study of a primary prevention strategy for CVD in HIV. In addition, he has investigated increased RAAS activation and immune activation in relationship to visceral fat accumulation, and the mechanisms of subcutaneous adipose dysfunction involving DICER. He has served on the Harvard faculty since 1995 and has been selected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians for his scientific contributions. He received the American Federation of Medical Research Investigator of the Year Award in 2005 and the Edward H. Ahrens Jr. Award for Patient Oriented Research in 2014 as well as the Endocrine Society Laureate Award for Translational Research in 2016.