Jesse Roth, a prominent endocrinologist who revolutionized the understanding of diabetes by discovering its cellular basis, has passed away at 91. His research showed that Type 2 diabetes is caused by insulin resistance at the cellular level, challenging the conventional view of the disease.
Roth spent over 50 years as a scientist and mentored numerous young scientists during his career. He was a leading theorist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) before joining Johns Hopkins University in 1991. His work also focused on hormones and their receptors across multiple conditions, including obesity, until his retirement in the 2000s.
Colleagues describe Roth as an “energized” scientist who changed the concept of how cells respond to hormones. Dr. Betty Diamond, director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine at the Feinstein Institutes, said that Roth’s enthusiasm was infectious and that he “changed our whole concept about how cells respond to hormones.”
Roth’s breakthrough discovery in 1971 provided direct evidence for insulin receptors on cell surfaces, transforming the understanding of Type 2 diabetes. His work built upon earlier research by Dr. Solomon Berson and Rosalyn Yalow at the Veterans Administration hospital.
Despite his significant contributions to the field, Roth never received a Nobel Prize, with some considering him one of the most important biomedical scientists of the second half of the 20th century without recognition.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/science/jesse-roth-dead.html