Gary Lewis

Dr. Gary Lewis completed his medical training in 1982 at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, followed by specialty training in Internal Medicine and then Endocrinology at the University of Chicago. He joined the staff of the Toronto General Hospital in 1990, has served as Head of the Division of Endocrinology at University Health Network and Mount Sinai Hospitals (2001-2012), Director of the University of Toronto Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism (2008-2017) and Director of the Banting and Best Diabetes Centre, U of T (2011 to 2022). Dr. Lewis is the Principal Investigator of a Diabetes Research network (Diabetes Action Canada) of over 120 investigators and 150 patient partners funded through the CIHR Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) Chronic Disease Network Initiative. He is a Full Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Physiology, University of Toronto and he holds the Drucker Family Chair in Diabetes Research.

Dr. Lewis is recognized internationally as a foremost expert in the field of lipoprotein metabolism in insulin resistance and diabetes. He has made several important observations elucidating the mechanisms of diabetic dyslipidemia, most notably the multiorgan regulation of hepatic and intestinal lipoprotein secretion. His recent work examining molecular mechanisms of intestinal lipoprotein secretion have revealed the importance of lipid storage in enterocytes well after meal ingestion, and its subsequent mobilization by nutrients and hormones. Dr. Lewis has also contributed significantly to our understanding of the mechanisms of HDL lowering in insulin resistant/hypertriglyceridemic states, demonstrating that HDL lipid compositional changes enhance its clearance from the circulation. His research is notable for taking an integrative, whole body approach in both humans and animal models.