Pioneering Diabetes Researcher Jesse Roth Dies at 91

His groundbreaking work on insulin receptors transformed understanding of Type 2 diabetes.

Mar. 27, 2026 at 2:40pm

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

Dr. Jesse Roth, a renowned endocrinologist who spent decades at the National Institutes of Health, died on March 11 at the age of 91. Roth's research provided the first direct evidence that cells have specific receptors for insulin, a finding that helped revolutionize the understanding of Type 2 diabetes as a disease caused by insulin resistance rather than just insufficient insulin. His work was initially controversial but ultimately prevailed, leading to a new paradigm in diabetes research and treatment.

Why it matters

Roth's discoveries were transformative for the field of diabetes research and care. By demonstrating that Type 2 diabetes is fundamentally an issue of insulin resistance at the cellular level, rather than just a lack of insulin, he paved the way for new approaches to prevention, management, and treatment of the disease. His work has had a lasting impact on our understanding of how hormones interact with cells and how disruptions in those processes can lead to metabolic disorders.

The details

In a series of experiments in the 1960s and 1970s, Roth and his team provided the first direct evidence that cells have specific receptors that bind to insulin. This finding contradicted the prevailing view that diabetes was caused solely by insufficient insulin production. Roth's work showed that when insulin receptors on cells are faulty or insufficient, glucose cannot properly enter the cells, leading to high blood sugar levels. Initially, Roth's ideas were met with skepticism, but as evidence mounted, his model of insulin resistance as the root cause of Type 2 diabetes became widely accepted.

  • Roth began his research at the National Institutes of Health in July 1963.
  • In 1971, Roth and his colleagues provided the first direct evidence of insulin receptors on cells.
  • Roth continued his research at Johns Hopkins University starting in 1991 and then the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research until his death in 2026.

The players

Jesse Roth

A pioneering endocrinologist who spent nearly three decades at the National Institutes of Health, where he made groundbreaking discoveries about insulin receptors and their role in Type 2 diabetes.

Robert Lefkowitz

A professor of medicine at Duke University who was a postdoctoral fellow in Roth's lab in the late 1960s.

C. Ronald Kahn

A professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the chief academic officer at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, who was a postdoctoral fellow in Roth's lab in 1970.

Betty Diamond

The director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine at the Feinstein Institutes, where Roth worked in the later part of his career.

Rosalyn Yalow

A medical physicist who developed the radioimmunoassay technique, which Roth used in his research, and became the first U.S.-born woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›

What they’re saying

“Jesse was a larger-than-life personality, always exuberant, spewing ideas a mile a minute.”

— Robert Lefkowitz, Professor of medicine at Duke University

“Of the biomedical scientists in the second half of the 20th century, Jesse contributed the most important conceptual insights without receiving a Nobel Prize.”

— C. Ronald Kahn, Professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School

“He was energized by science, and his enthusiasm was infectious. He changed our whole concept about how cells respond to hormones.”

— Betty Diamond, Director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine at the Feinstein Institutes

The takeaway

Jesse Roth's groundbreaking research on insulin receptors and insulin resistance transformed our understanding of the underlying causes of Type 2 diabetes, paving the way for new approaches to prevention, management, and treatment of this widespread metabolic disorder. His work has had a lasting impact on the field of endocrinology and serves as a testament to the power of scientific inquiry to challenge prevailing assumptions and drive paradigm shifts in our knowledge.