Dr. Barish received his A.B. in Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley and his M.D. from the University of Michigan. As a medical student, he was selected as Howard Hughes Medical Institute – NIH Research Scholar and trained in the laboratory of Dr. Harold Varmus. Following his clinical training, he pursued postdoctoral studies at the Salk Institute with Dr. Ronald Evans. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Molecular Medicine at Northwestern University.

Dr. Barish’s laboratory is focused on transcriptional mechanisms controlling insulin sensitivity, steatosis, skeletal muscle remodeling, and inter-organ communication. To these ends, his laboratory uses a variety of genetic, molecular, next-generation sequencing, and biochemical methods as well as physiological models. In particular, his group has identified powerful roles for the germinal center repressor B cell lymphoma 6 (BCL6) in control of body fat distribution, diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.