Joshua Rabinowitz PhD

Joshua Denison Rabinowitz is a Professor of Chemistry & Integrative Genomics at Princeton University. He brings a quantitative, chemical perspective to the study of diet and metabolism. His research focuses on two broad questions: What is the quantitative flow (flux) through different metabolic pathways? How is this flux controlled? To address these questions, his lab develops innovative technologies that blend mass spectrometry, isotope tracers, and computational data integration. These technologies have been broadly applied to address major biomedical problems, including diabetes, infectious disease, and cancer. In the field of oncology, Dr. Rabinowitz contributed to the discovery of the cancer-causing metabolite, 2-hydroxyglutarate. More recently, his work found that lactate, classically considered a waste product, is actually a major circulating fuel. Ongoing work aims to advance quantitative measurement technologies for spatially resolved analysis of animal metabolism. Early results indicate the potential to substantially revamp our understanding of both organismal and cancer metabolism, as well as their interplay.

After obtaining his MD and a PhD in biophysics from Stanford University, Josh co-founded Alexza Pharmaceuticals and served as its Vice President for Research until 2004, when he joined Princeton University, where he is now a Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics and the Director of the Ludwig Princeton Branch. Since 2008, he has also been a Member of the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.