Mitchell A. Lazar - The Emperor's New Data

Abstract

There is a crisis of confidence in science and scientists, which has been accentuated by an assault on truth and facts that has affected nearly every aspect of our civilized society. I will discuss the problem from both general and personal perspectives, and address the need for scientists to always be skeptical, especially about claims that are too good to be true.



About Mitchell A. Lazar

Mitchell A. Lazar, MD, PhD is the Willard and Rhoda Ware Professor of Diabetes & Metabolic Diseases at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He was received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from M.I.T. and his MD and PhD from Stanford University, then trained in internal medicine and endocrinology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Lazar joined the University of Pennsylvania faculty in 1989 and rose through the ranks to Professor, serving as Chief of the Penn Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism from 1996-2020. Since 2005 he has been Founding Director of the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. Dr. Lazar's groundbreaking research has focused on nuclear receptors and the transcriptional regulation of circadian rhythms and metabolism, and he has has made fundamental contributions to the fields of endocrinology, diabetes, and chronobiology.



Mitch has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and its Council, and to the Association of American Physicians and its council, which he served as President in 2020-2021. He is also an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Science, and has received numerous awards from international societies and universities, including the Transatlantic Medal from the UK Endocrine Society, the Luft Medal from the Karolinska Institute, and the Harrison Medal from the Endocrine Society of Australia. Dr. Lazar was also the recipient of the 2023 Fred Conrad Koch Lifetime Achievement Medal Award of the Endocrine Society. He was recently selected to receive the 2025 George M. Kober Medal from the Association of American Physicians, an honorific society of America’s leading physician-scientists founded in 1885 to exemplify the pinnacle of pioneering and enduring, impactful contributions to improve health.