Jeffrey D Esko MD, PhD

Jeffrey D. Esko, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c) is a Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and Co-Director of the Glycobiology Research and Training Center at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Esko received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. After an independent fellowship at the Molecular Biology Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, he moved to the University of Alabama at Birmingham and then to the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego in 1996 to help build a program in Glycobiology. Work in his laboratory focuses on the structure, biosynthesis, and function of proteoglycans, including structural studies of heparan sulfate by mass spectrometry, application of genome-wide methods to identify genes involved in heparan sulfate assembly and lysosomal turnover, analysis of guanidinylated glycosides that act as molecular transporters, studies of proteoglycans in lipoprotein metabolism, and analysis of proteoglycans in inflammation. He has published over 250 scholarly papers, reviews, and book chapters and was editor/author of the first textbook in the field, Essentials of Glycobiology (1st and 2nd editions). His work is supported by several grants from the National Institutes of Health and the private sector.

Dr. Esko has served on numerous editorial boards and scientific boards including the Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1991-1996; the Journal of Cell Biology, 2008-present; and as Associate Editor, Glycobiology, 1999-2004, and 2010-present. He was past President of the Society for Glycobiology, past Director of the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program at UCSD and he cofounded Zacharon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. His work has been recognized by the Karl Meyer Award, the highest honor from the Society for Glycobiology, the IGO award from the International Glycoconjugate Organization, a MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health, and an honorary medical degree from the University of Uppsala