Barry I. Posner

Biography

Dr. Barry I. Posner is Professor of Medicine, Anatomy & Cell Biology, and Director of the Polypeptide and Protein Hormone Laboratory at McGill University. He joined the McGill Faculty of Medicine in 1970 and became full Professor and Senior Physician by 1979. He was Director of the McGill Endocrine training program and physician-in-chief at the Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital; and currently serves as the Associate Director of the Montreal Diabetes Research Center. In early research he discovered insulin receptors in newly recognized insulin target tissues including brain and vascular endothelial cells. With J. Bergeron he identified endosomes as a central site for initiating and regulating cell signaling. In discovering the peroxovanadium compounds he described a key role for phosphotyrosine phosphatases in regulating Receptor Tyrosine Kinases. More recently he identified lipid rafts as sites of intense endosomal signaling and participated in identifying genes linked to diabetes. He has published over 280 scientific manuscripts, and his academic contributions have been recognized by election to the Association of American Physicians (1988), receipt of the Distinguished Scientist award of the CSCI (1991), election to Fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada, appointment as Officer of the Order of Canada (1999), and Chevalier of the Order of Quebec (2014), and recipient of the Queen’s Golden (2002) and Diamond Jubilee (2012) Medals.

Research Interest

Insulin, growth factors, receptors, endosomes, pervandate, phosphatases, diabetes, genes