Aaron J. Kowalski, Ph.D.
Chief Mission Officer
Vice President, Research

Dr. Kowalski oversees JDRF-funded research aimed at accelerating the delivery of therapies that will help keep people healthy while living with diabetes and minimize their risk for developing diabetes complications, as well as treatments that will help those who have developed diabetic complications. Dr. Kowalski is an internationally recognized expert in the area of diabetes technologies and has been a leader since its inception in 2005 of the JDRF Artificial Pancreas Project, a multimillion-dollar initiative aimed at accelerating progress towards a closed-loop automated insulin-delivery system and diabetes technologies that will improve blood sugar control in people with diabetes. He has published numerous articles in the field, including co-authoring the landmark New England Journal of Medicine publication demonstrating the effectiveness of continuous glucose monitors in type 1 diabetes. Dr. Kowalski has been an invited speaker at the ADA Annual Scientific Sessions, EASD, AACE, AADE and many other national and international conferences and was the keynote speaker at the 2008 Diabetes Technology Society Meeting.

Dr. Kowalski has traveled widely across North America and abroad describing diabetes research progress and is known for his ability to translate complicated science into easily understandable concepts. He has been a voice for diabetes research in the popular press, appearing on The Martha Stewart Show, dLife, Fox Business, NPR and many others and is often quoted in print media including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and People magazine.

Prior to joining JDRF he completed his Ph.D. in molecular genetics from Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

In 1977, at the age of three, Dr. Kowalski’s brother Stephen was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and in 1984, at the age of thirteen, he, too, was diagnosed with type 1. It is their collective experiences over the past 30+ years that provide the daily motivation to fight for a cure.