By Bill Snyder
Rafael Arrojo e Drigo, an assistant professor of molecular physiology and biophysics, has won a prestigious 2027 Laureate Award from the international Endocrine Society for innovative research that “has transformed our understanding of thyroid hormone biology, diabetes, and the biology of aging.”
Arrojo e Drigo, who is also the enrichment director of the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center, is one of 13 leading endocrinologists from around the world selected this year for the annual honor.
He will receive the Richard E. Weitzman Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award, named for the pioneering endocrinologist at UCLA, during the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting, ENDO 2027, to be held June 5–7, 2027, in Toronto, Canada.
“This honor is a richly deserved recognition of Rafael’s contributions,” said Dr. Nancy Carrasco, the Joe C. Davis Professor of Biomedical Science and University Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics.
“His results demonstrate that aging is compartmentalized and tightly regulated by such factors as insulin signaling, nutrient demand, and cellular metabolism,” Carrasco said. “Rafael’s highly innovative work has deepened our understanding of molecular endocrinology, metabolism, aging, and diabetes, and will undoubtedly continue to do so.”
Arrojo e Drigo earned his Ph.D. in endocrinology in 2012 from the Universidade Federal de São Paulo in São Paulo, Brazil.
He did postdoctoral work at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the University of Miami, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, where he also was a staff scientist before joining the Vanderbilt faculty in 2020.
In its announcement of the Laureate Awards, the Endocrine Society said that, “by integrating cutting-edge technologies across molecular, cellular and whole-organism systems, [Arrojo e Drigo] has uncovered fundamental mechanisms that regulate hormone signaling, pancreatic islet function and metabolic health.”
“His pioneering discovery of ‘age mosaicism,’ which revealed how aging is spatially and biologically regulated within tissues, has reshaped scientific understanding of aging and opened new avenues for research into human health and disease,” the statement concluded.
Previous Vanderbilt recipients of Endocrine Society Laureate Awards include Dr. Alvin C. Powers, professor of medicine and molecular physiology and biophysics and co-director of the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center, who was honored earlier this year for decades of research on pancreatic islet structure and function that has significantly advanced the field of diabetes research.