David Altshuler

David’s passion and enthusiasm for human genetics and therapeutic innovation has followed him throughout his career. He joined Vertex in 2015 and leads internal and external innovation, inclusive of research, preclinical and pharmaceutical sciences, as well as corporate data strategy, technology and engineering. With the goal of discovering transformative medicines for the treatment of serious diseases, he implemented our research strategy and is responsible for shaping the research pipeline. He was founding chair of the Vertex Foundation and serves as the executive sponsor for Vertex University and Vertex’s global STEAM education initiatives. Before joining as Vertex’s Chief Scientific Officer, he served on the company’s board of directors from 2012 to 2014.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in life sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his M.D. and Ph.D. in genetics from Harvard Medical School. He completed his clinical training at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in internal medicine and in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

David is actively involved in the medical and scientific community, including as chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the MGH Research Institute Advisory Council. He’s a member of the board of directors of Genomics plc and Arbor Biotechnologies, and he serves on the board of trustees of the Museum of Science and the Becket Chimney Corners YMCA. He also continues to teach students as a senior lecturer in genetics and medicine at MGH and Harvard.

He has received numerous awards including the Curt Stern Award of the American Society of Human Genetics and the Outstanding Scientific Research Award of the American Diabetes Association. The Obama White House named him a Champion of Change for his leadership in creating and leading the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health. In 2021, he was named on of the Top 20 Most Influential R&D Executives in drug development by Endpoints News.