C. Ronald Kahn

Carl Ronald Kahn (born January 14, 1944) is an American physician and scientist, best known for his work with insulin receptors and insulin resistance in diabetes and obesity. He is the Chief Academic Officer at Joslin Diabetes Center, the Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1999

Early life and career

Kahn was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He received his undergraduate and medical degree from the University of Louisville in 1964 and 1968. He became interested in pursuing diabetes research while serving in several positions at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1970 to 1981. He moved to Boston in 1981 when he was appointed Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Research Director of the Joslin Diabetes Center. By 1984, he was promoted to Professor of Medicine and named the Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in 1986.

Personal life

Kahn is married to Susan Becker Kahn, also formerly of Louisville. They have two children. Stacy Anne Kahn is a pediatric gastroenterologist at the University of Chicago School of Medicine. Jeffrey Adam Kahn is managing partner of Continuum Search based in Denver, Colorado. His brother Arnold Kahn is emeritus Professor of Developmental Biology of the University of California San Francisco.

Awards and recognition

• David Rumbough Award for Scientific Achievement, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (1977)
• Eli Lilly Award for Research, American Diabetes Association (1981)
• Cristobal Diaz Award for Research, International Diabetes Federation (1988)
• Banting Medal for Distinguished Scientific Achievement, American Diabetes Association (1993)
• Solomon Berson Distinguished Lecture, American Physiological Society (1997)
• Albert Renold Award, American Diabetes Association (1998)
• Dorothy Hodgkin Award, British Diabetes Association (1999)
• Fred Conrad Koch Award for Distinguished Contributions to Endocrinology, Endocrine Society (2000)
• Hamdan Award for Medical Research Excellence, awarded by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for *Medical Sciences, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (2000)
• Lawson Wilkins Award Lecture, Pediatric Endocrine Society (2001)
• Rolf Luft Award Lecture, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden (2001)
• Steven C. Beering Award for Advancement of Biomedical Science, Indiana University (2002)
• J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine for Diabetes, Toronto, Canada (2002)
• Manpei Suzuki International Prize for Top Diabetes Researcher Worldwide (Inaugural Recipient), Tokyo, Japan (2009)
• Hans Falk Memorial Lecture, National Institute of Environmental Health Science (2009)[16]
• Presidential Lecture, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute, New York (2010)
• Alpha Omega Alpha Visiting Professor, Columbia University Medical School, New York, NY (2010)
• Frontiers in Science Award, American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (2010)
• Cockrell Foundation Award in Basic and Clinical Research, Houston, TX (2010)
• Distinguished Leader in Insulin Resistance, World Congress of Insulin Resistance in Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease, Los Angeles, CA (2010)
• David Murdock Dole Honorary Lecture, Mayo Clinic-Karolinska, Nobel Forum, Stockholm, Sweden (2011)
• Wallace H. Coulter Award, American Association of Clinical Chemistry (2013)
• Helmholtz Diabetes Research Lifetime Achievement Award, Munich, Germany (2013)
• Honorary Adjunct Member, Max Planck Institute, Cologne, Germany (2014)
• Ipsen Foundation Prize in Endocrine Regulation (2015)
• Harold Hamm Prize in Diabetes (2015)
• Wolf Prize in Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel (2016)