David Altshuler

David is the Executive Vice President, Global Research and Chief Scientific Officer at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. He lead Vertex research, preclinical and pharmaceutical sciences aimed at discovering transformative medicines for the treatment of serious diseases. David also oversee functions for innovation, data strategy and solutions, and STEAM education, and Vice-Chair of the Vertex Foundation.

I was previously a Founding Core Member, Deputy Director and Chief Academic Officer at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, a professor at Harvard and MIT, and a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. My academic laboratory led the three major projects that characterized and catalogued human genetic variation — the SNP Consortium, HapMap and 1,000 Genome Projects — and pioneered the methods and practice of genetic analysis of common human diseases. I’m a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and have been named a Champion of Change by the White House for my leadership in creating and leading the Global Alliance for Genomic and Health.