Andrea Dunaif MD

Andrea Dunaif, M.D., is the Charles F. Kettering Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism, and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University.  Formerly, she was Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Molecular Medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine for 10 years.  Before joining Northwestern in 2001, Dr. Dunaif held faculty appointments at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and Harvard Medical School.  She served as the first director of women’s health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.  She also established and served as chief of the Division of Women’s Health in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and led the Harvard Medical School National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health.

Dr. Dunaif is an internationally recognized expert in endocrinology and women’s health.  Her research on polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the most common hormonal disorder of reproductive-age women with prevalence rates of 5-10% worldwide, has shown that PCOS is a leading risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Further, this research has revolutionized the treatment of PCOS with insulin sensitizing drugs.  Dr. Dunaif is the Director of the National Institutes of Health-supported Northwestern University Specialized Center of Research on Sex Differences and leads an international effort to map the genes for PCOS.  She also oversees two National Institutes of Health-supported training programs, the Northwestern University Building Interdisciplinary Careers in Women’s Health institutional K-award program and the Northwestern University Program in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Hormone Action, an institutional Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award.

Dr. Dunaif has more than 100 original scientific publications and has edited four books.  She has received numerous awards and honors including the Endocrine Society’s highest award for clinical research, the Clinical Investigator Award, and the Arnold Adolph Berthold Medal Prize from German Endocrine Society.  She has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.  Dr. Dunaif received a Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Athens Medical School.  She is a past president of the Endocrine Society, a former associate editor of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism and Obesity and a past Chair of the National Institutes of Health Integrative and Clinical Endocrinology and Reproduction Study Section.  She is listed in Best Doctors in America, US News-Castle Connolly Top Doctors in America and Consumer’s Research Council of America Guide to America’s Top Physicians.