Aaron J. Kowalski

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Aaron J. Kowalski, Ph.D. was appointed as President and C.E.O. of JDRF, the global leader in type 1 diabetes (T1D) research and advocacy, in April of 2019. He joined JDRF in 2004 and most recently served as Chief Mission Officer, leading research and advocacy strategy.

Aaron is an internationally recognized scientific expert in the area of T1D research. He was pivotal in the transformation of JDRF’s role as the leading global organization funding T1D research, from an organization funding primarily academic research to a highly engaged strategic funder influencing all stages of the research and development pipeline. Under his leadership, JDRF is well known for its collaboration across the global T1D community – working closely with senior industry executives and leaders in academia, clinical care and government.

Aaron has authored numerous articles on T1D research that are improving standards of care, including his artificial pancreas roadmap that was adopted by the diabetes industry to significantly accelerate the delivery of the first commercial systems, and the landmark JDRF CGM Trial in the New England Journal of Medicine, which opened up access to continuous glucose monitoring through insurance coverage.

Aaron’s scientific expertise, his personal experience of living with T1D for over 35 years, and his ability to engage the T1D community enable him to advance JDRF’s mission to cure, prevent, and treat T1D and its complications.

He earned his doctorate in microbiology and molecular genetics from Rutgers University.