Robert A. Gabbay, MD, PhD, FACP is Chief Scientific and Medical Officer of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. Throughout his vibrant career he has had many accomplishments as a basic science researcher, developer of patient communication tools, creator of the first broad scale diabetes registry, designer of care management training programs, and leader of one of the largest primary care transformation efforts in the US around the Patient Centered Medical Home.

The reach of his work has been recognized through leadership roles in national and international arenas. Dr. Gabbay has served as visiting professor, keynote speaker, and on organizing committees for global meetings of the ADA, International Diabetes Federation, Endocrine Society, and the Diabetes Technology Society. Along with an extensive peer reviewed publication record, he has appeared in and is frequently quoted in the popular press including the New York Times, CNN, Oprah, the Washington Post, and NPR.

At the ADA, Dr. Gabbay has led many transformational initiatives including the establishment of the Primary Care Council (comprised of the leading primary care organizations in the US) and the development of a deeper focus on primary care at the ADA, the reinvigoration of the Standards of Care, the expansion of the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) through a multi-year $12.5 million CDC initiative, the launch of the Institute of Learning (IOL), establishment of the Leapfrog initiative to recognize quality care hospital systems for people with diabetes, and leading the association with innovation at the ADA Scientific Sessions and with the ADA’s Innovation Challenge.  

Dr. Gabbay has transformed the Science & Health Care division at the ADA widening the breadth of skills and expertise of the team to include multiple health care professionals and researchers.

Throughout his career, Dr. Gabbay has received funding from the National Institute of Health Diabetes, Digestive and Kidneys Diseases (NIDDK), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Cener for Disease Control, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation for his care transformation work.

Before his time at the ADA, Dr. Gabbay served as the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President at Joslin Diabetes Center, and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. At Joslin, he oversaw the clinical care for over 25,000 patients, as well as the education and care programs Joslin delivers nationally and internationally.

Dr. Gabbay completed his B.Sc. Degree at McGill University and his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin where he published on mechanisms of insulin signaling. He received his medical degree from the State University of New York at Brooklyn School of Medicine with a residency in Internal Medicine at New York Hospital-Cornell and a fellowship in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at a joint Joslin-Beth Israel Deaconess-Brigham and Women’s Hospital program at Harvard. Dr. Gabbay was a visiting scientist at MIT and a Professor of Medicine at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, as well as the founding director of the Penn State Institute of Diabetes and Obesity before his tenure at Joslin.