Douglas Melton

Doug Melton is pursuing a cure for type 1 diabetes. His lab studies the developmental biology of the pancreas, using that information to grow and develop pancreatic cells (islets of Langerhans). In parallel, they investigate ways to protect beta cells from autoimmune attack.

Melton earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Illinois and then went to Cambridge University in England as a Marshall Scholar. He earned a BA in history and philosophy of science at Cambridge and remained there to earn a PhD in molecular biology at Trinity College and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. He is co-director of Harvard’s Stem Cell Institute and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is also a co-founder and scientific advisory board member of Semma Therapeutics, scientific advisory board member of Fidelity Biosciences, and fiduciary board member of Bluebird Bio.