Rudolph Leibel

Rudolph Leibel, MD, (born 1942) is a molecular geneticist at Columbia University. His co-discovery at Rockefeller University of the hormone leptin, and cloning of the leptin and leptin receptor genes, has had a major role in the area of understanding human obesity. Leibel has published hundreds of scientific papers on obesity, and has authored and co-authored 70 scientific papers on the topic of leptin specifically.

Leibel's initial research was focused on adrenergic receptor-mediated effects on lipolysis, and on the control of fatty acid re-esterification in human adipose tissue. Being among the first investigators to describe anatomic site-related differences in alpha 2 and beta 1 adrenoreceptor activity in human adipose tissue, Leibel was also one of the first scientists to assess the role of alpha 2 and beta 1 adrenoreceptor in determining the sexual dimorphism in human adipose tissue distribution.

In addition to cloning the mouse mahoganoid mutation that modifies the obesity of Yellow mice , Leibel also developed a microassay system for quantifying the re-esterification pathway in human adipose tissue. This invention has led to elucidation of the control mechanisms involved with circulating free fatty acids in humans.

The efforts of the Leibel laboratory at Columbia University focus on the genetics of obesity and non-insulin dependent diabetes, or diabetes mellitus type 2. The laboratory has mapped, cloned and identified mutations in the obese and fatty genes in humans, rats, and mice and focuses on defining the physiological basis by which signaling networks regulate body size and composition. The Leibel laboratory is also working to isolate additional human and rodent genes that influence body weight and the susceptibility to diabetes mellitus type 2 in the context of obesity.

Biography & Academic Background
Leibel obtained an A.B. from Colgate University in 1963 and an M.D .in 1967 from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He was an Intern and Junior Resident in Pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital from 1967 to 1969, after which he served as a Major in the United States Army Medical Corps from 1969 to 1971.

Medical Training
After serving as a Senior Resident in Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital from 1971 to 1972, Leibel became an NIH Clinical and Research Fellow in Pediatric Endocrinology-Metabolism at Massachusetts General Hospital from 1972 to 1974. He was a Research Associate in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1975 to 1978 and joined Rockefeller University from 1978 to 1981 as a Rockefeller Scholar in Clinical Science. Leibel completed his training as an Established Investigator at the American Heart Association from 1985 to 1989.

Scientific Career
Leibel's seminal contributions to the field of obesity research, and childhood obesity specifically, were highlighted in Okie's 2005 book Fed Up!: Winning the War Against Childhood Obesity. He has authored or co-authored over 300 peer reviewed scientific papers, which have been cited over 13,000 times in the world scientific literature. He also serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, International Journal of Obesity, and Obesity Research, and has received numerous awards for scientific and pioneering work in medical research.

In recognition of his scientific work, Leibel was elected as a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1998 and serves as a member of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Federal Advisory Council. His research is funded by the National Institutes of Health, the American Diabetes Association, the New York State Stem Cell Science Program, the Russell Berrie Foundation and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, as well as Astra Zeneca. Leibel also serves as one of four Scientific Steering Committee members of the Type 1 Diabetes Research Consortium, a multi-institutional collaborative program of The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, that was established in 2009 to better understand the causes of type 1 diabetes and explore potential therapies. As of 2012, the consortium encompassed 11 institutions and 45 investigators through 28 grants totaling $21.8 million.

Leibel is Co-Director of the New York Obesity Research Center (an NIH Center) and is a Member of the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University. He is the Co-Director of the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University Medical Center and is Head of the Division of Molecular Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, at Columbia University. Leibel is the Chairman of the Selection Committee for the Pollin Prize for Pediatric Research and acts as the Co-Director of the NIH Diabetes and Endocrinology Research Center (DERC), at Columbia University.

Press and Media
Leibel was featured throughout HBO's The Weight of the Nation series in 2012 as a key scientific commentator. He is often featured in the popular press and on television news shows.

Honors and Awards
In addition to dozens of visiting professorships and more than 100 lectureships, the following awards have been granted to Leibel:


 * 1) Phi Beta Kappa
 * 2) Alpha Omega Alpha
 * 3) Austen-Colgate Scholar
 * 4) NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship
 * 5) Rockefeller Scholar in Clinical Science
 * 6) Established Investigator, American Heart Association
 * 7) Eliot Hochstein Award for excellence in teaching, Cornell University Medical College
 * 8) Senior List for excellence in teaching, Cornell University Medical College
 * 9) TOPS Scientific Achievement Award (NAASO - 1996)
 * 10) NIH/HHS Intragency Committee on Human Nutrition Research (1997)
 * 11) Member, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences
 * 12) New York State Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR) Distinguished Professor, 2002
 * 13) Distinguished Alumnus Award, Albert Einstein College of Medicine (2005)
 * 14) Berthold Medal of the European Society of Endocrinology (2008)
 * 15) Federation Award for biomedical research of the Federation of Medical Societies of the Netherlands, Leiden University. (2008)
 * 16) Member, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Federal Advisory Council
 * 17) The Christopher J. Murphy Professorship of Diabetes Research (2011)
 * 18) Louisiana State University/Pennington Biomedical Research Honoris Causa Doctorate (2012)