Christopher Glass

Dr. Glass is a physician-scientist recognized for his work on molecular mechanisms that control macrophage and microglia functions in health and disease. Dr. Glass majored in Biophysics at UC Berkeley and received M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from UC San Diego. He performed internship and residency training in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston before returning to UC San Diego for fellowship training in Endocrinology and Metabolism. Dr. Glass was a founding member of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at UC San Diego and is currently Distinguished Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and Distinguished Professor of Medicine. His laboratory has had a long-standing interest in elucidating the molecular mechanisms by which sequence specific transcription factors, co-activators and co-repressors regulate the development and function of macrophages and microglia. A major focus has been on understanding the roles of nuclear hormone receptors and other signal dependent transcription factors in controlling programs of gene expression that underlie both their normal homeostatic functions in healthy tissues, as well as their pathogenic functions in the arterial wall, adipose tissue and brain. Honors recognizing Dr. Glass’ contributions include election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences. Current studies in Dr. Glass’ laboratory use a combination of genetics and genomics to define general molecular mechanisms that establish macrophage and microglia identity and cell-specific responses to homeostatic and pathogenic signals in mouse models and human subjects.