Biography of Nicholas F. LaRusso, M.D.

Nicholas F. LaRusso, M.D., the Charles H. Weinman Endowed Professor of Medicine, is Director of the Center for Innovation at Mayo Clinic and a Distinguished Investigator of the Mayo Foundation. Prior to becoming Director of Innovation in 2008, he held the following positions at Mayo Clinic: Vice Chair for Research of the Department of Medicine, Chair of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Chair of the Department of Medicine. Dr. LaRusso received an undergraduate degree (magna cum laude) from Boston College, an M.D. degree from New York Medical College, and training in internal medicine and gastroenterology at Mayo Clinic including an NIH fellowship in the laboratory of Alan Hofmann. Before assuming a faculty position at Mayo in 1977, he was a guest investigator at the Rockefeller University in the laboratory of the Nobel laureate, Christian de Duve. He continued advancing his career by becoming a member of the American Association of Clinical Investigation, a member of Association of American Physicians, the editor of Gastroenterology, president of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), and president of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA). He is the recipient of an NIH MERIT Award, Distinguished Achievement Awards from both the AGA and the AASLD, and a Distinguished Mentor award from the AGA. He is a Distinguished Investigator of the Mayo Foundation, and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mayo Alumni Association. In addition to being the Director for the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation, Dr. LaRusso is currently the Principle Investigator of two RO1’s and the NIH Mayo Center for Cell Signaling in Gastroenterology. He is also currently the Chair of the AGA Foundation.