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Leadership
Vice Chancellor, Health Sciences, John M. Carethers, MD, MACP, FAACR
John M. Carethers, MD, MACP, FAACR (he/him) is vice chancellor for Health Sciences at University of California San Diego. In this role, he leads the School of Medicine, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science and UC San Diego Health.
As vice chancellor, Dr. Carethers drives the overarching strategy for all of Health Sciences, working with the chancellor, campus and health system leadership on expanding UC San Diego Health’s clinical enterprise, fostering research collaborations, enhancing educational opportunities and expanding philanthropic participation. His collaborative approach, deep expertise and leadership continue to expand and diversify the global prestige and distinction of our university’s health sciences.
A distinguished physician-scientist and leader in the field of gastroenterological research and treatment, Dr. Carethers’ clinical and research interests include familial colon cancer syndromes, mechanisms of tumor progression, DNA mismatch repair and colorectal cancer disparities.
Dr. Carethers joined UC San Diego in 2023 after a 13-year tenure at the University of Michigan, where he served as the C. Richard Boland Distinguished University Professor and the John G. Searle Professor and chair of the Department of Internal Medicine.
Prior to that, Dr. Carethers spent nearly 15 years at UC San Diego School of Medicine, including serving as chief of the Division of Gastroenterology. One of his many accomplishments as division chief was securing the inaugural National Institutes of Health-funded Gastroenterology Center Grant that allowed the division to grow scientifically and partner with other local institutions, such as the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, Scripps Research Institute and Sanford Burnham Prebys.
Dr. Carethers earned his medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine in 1989, completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1992 and his gastroenterology fellowship at University of Michigan in 1995.
IDMH Director Alan Saltiel, PhD
Alan Saltiel received his AB in zoology from Duke University in 1975 with magna cum laude distinction, and his PhD in biochemistry from the University of North Carolina in 1980. Following postdoctoral training with Pedro Cuatrecasas at the Wellcome Research Laboratories, he moved to the Rockefeller University as assistant professor in 1984, continuing work on the molecular and cellular biology of the actions of insulin and growth factors.
In 1990, he joined Parke Davis Pharmaceutical Research as Distinguished Research Fellow and Senior Director of Cell Biology, and directed drug discovery activities in diabetes, obesity and cancer. He was responsible for preclinical development of troglitazone, the first thiazolidinedione approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. He also developed the first MEK inhibitors for the treatment of cancer - now approved for melanoma and other cancers.
In 2001, Dr. Saltiel moved to the newly created Life Sciences Institute of the University of Michigan and was named Director of the Institute, and John Jacob Abel Professor in the Life Sciences. The Institute is now home to 30 faculty and over 400 scientists in all areas of life sciences.
In 2015, he moved to UC San Diego to create and lead the Institute for Diabetes and Metabolic Health, and he serves as professor of medicine and pharmacology.
He has received numerous awards, including the Rosalyn Yalow Research and Development Award from the American Diabetes Association, the Hirschl Award, the John Jacob Abel and the Goodman and Gilman Awards from ASPET, was elected to membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the National Academy of Medicine. He has given many named lectures and organized numerous meetings and conferences, and served on a number of advisory panels, scientific and editorial boards. He has eighteen issued patents and has published over 280 original papers.