ALEXANDER R. NECTOW, MD PhD

Biography

Alexander R. Nectow is a clinician-scientist and a Principal Investigator on the faculty of Columbia University’s Department of Medicine. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Engineering Science and Biomedical Engineering, respectively, from Tufts University in 2011. He earned his PhD from Rockefeller University in 2015, during which he developed novel molecular profiling technologies and identified the dorsal raphe nucleus as a key node regulating food intake. Shortly after completing his PhD, Alex started his laboratory as a CV Starr Fellow at Princeton University’s Princeton Neuroscience Institute in 2016. At Princeton, Alex's group identified a novel mechanism through which the brainstem regulates thermogenesis. During this time, Alex also began to pursue an MD at Columbia University. Alex then joined the faculty of Columbia University’s Department of Medicine in 2019, shortly before completing his MD in 2020. While continuing to run his lab, he concurrently completed an internal medicine residency through the clinician-scientist pathway at NYP-Columbia. He is currently completing a clinical fellowship in cardiology, also at NYP-Columbia.

Alex has been recognized with a number of honors and awards, such as The Rockefeller University’s David Rockefeller Fellowship, Princeton University’s CV Starr Fellowship, Columbia University's Titus Munson Coan Prize, and the American Diabetes Association’s Innovative Basic Science Award and Pathway to Stop Diabetes Accelerator Award. He was also recently a NARSAD Young Investigator.