Dario F De Jesus, MSc, PhD
I am an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Section of Genetic Medicine, at the University of Chicago. My lab focuses on uncovering how molecular mechanisms shape health and metabolic disease, with particular emphasis on pancreatic islets and RNA modifications, diabetes, and aging.
My scientific journey began during my Master’s studies as a Fulbright Research Scholar in the laboratory of Professor Rohit N. Kulkarni at Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School. This work continued through my PhD in the Graduate Program in Basic and Applied Biology (GABBA) at the University of Porto, where I studied the epigenetic reprogramming of hepatic metabolism.
Before joining the University of Chicago, I served as an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and as a Research Associate at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. My independent research has been supported by the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), the American Diabetes Association (ADA), and more recently by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) through a K99/R00 award.
Beyond research, I am deeply passionate about mentoring. Before academia took me fully into the lab, I worked as a high school biology teacher in Portugal, an experience that continues to shape how I train and support young scientists. I hope to be the kind of mentor who sparks curiosity and helps trainees discover that science is exciting. Ideally, I can do for a few future scientists what my own high school biology teacher did for me: make biology feel so fascinating that there was never really a way back.
My scientific journey began during my Master’s studies as a Fulbright Research Scholar in the laboratory of Professor Rohit N. Kulkarni at Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School. This work continued through my PhD in the Graduate Program in Basic and Applied Biology (GABBA) at the University of Porto, where I studied the epigenetic reprogramming of hepatic metabolism.
Before joining the University of Chicago, I served as an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and as a Research Associate at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. My independent research has been supported by the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), the American Diabetes Association (ADA), and more recently by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) through a K99/R00 award.
Beyond research, I am deeply passionate about mentoring. Before academia took me fully into the lab, I worked as a high school biology teacher in Portugal, an experience that continues to shape how I train and support young scientists. I hope to be the kind of mentor who sparks curiosity and helps trainees discover that science is exciting. Ideally, I can do for a few future scientists what my own high school biology teacher did for me: make biology feel so fascinating that there was never really a way back.