ASCI / Emerging-Generation Awards, 2025

Max C. Petersen, MD, PhD is an endocrinologist-scientist at Washington University in St. Louis. His clinical-translational research focuses on the mechanisms linking nutrition, obesity, and insulin resistance in people. Dr. Petersen completed his MD and PhD at the Yale School of Medicine. His graduate work in the laboratory of Gerald Shulman, MD, PhD identified a new molecular mechanism by which fat accumulation in the liver causes insulin resistance, directly impairing insulin signaling through phosphorylation of the insulin receptor.

Inspired to extend his work on insulin resistance to humans, Dr. Petersen continued his training in the Stanbury Physician-Scientist Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he completed residency training in Internal Medicine before moving to St. Louis and the Washington University Physician-Scientist Training Program to pursue fellowship training in Endocrinology and postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Samuel Klein, MD. His postdoctoral work with Dr. Klein examined mechanisms involved in the metabolic response to obesity, identifying factors that could explain why some people with obesity remain metabolically healthy and insulin sensitive while others do not. This work was published in Cell Metabolism. Current studies are examining the impact of specific diets, including ketogenic diets, on metabolic health in obesity, diabetes, and lipid disorders.

Dr. Petersen has received several awards for his clinical work and research, including the 2018 Yale MD/PhD Thesis Prize, the 2022 Knowlton Award for clinical excellence in the Washington University Department of Medicine, and the 2024 Stuart Kornfeld Distinguished PSTP Fellow Award from the Washington University Physician-Scientist Training Program. He serves on the Editorial Boards of The Journal of Physiology and Obesity.