Dartmouth: BA, (1975); Stanford: MD (1982), PhD Biochemistry (1986); Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School: resident, chief resident, instructor, assistant professor of medicine (1983-93); Yale University: assistant professor (1993), associate professor (1994), professor of medicine and genetics (1997-2016); chair of genetics (1998-2016); investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (1994-2016); Sterling Professor of Genetics (2002-2016); founder, executive director, Yale Center for Genome Analysis (2009-2016); Rockefeller University: president, head of laboratory (2016-present).

Lifton has used human genetics and genomics to identify mutations in genes underlying several hundred human diseases and determined their biochemical mechanisms. Work on hypertension demonstrated key roles of renal salt and potassium handling in blood pressure regulation, establishing approaches to treatment and prevention. In 2009 reported first clinical diagnosis by exome sequencing, and discovered mutations underlying diseases ranging from congenital malformations to hormone-producing neoplasias and cancers. New therapeutics based on this research have/are being developed.

He's a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  He has served on the Governing Councils of NAS and NAM, Advisory Council to the NIH Director, Scientific Advisory Boards of Massachusetts General Hospital, Whitehead Institute, Simons Foundation for Autism Research, Broad Institute, Chan-Zuckerberg BioHub, Chair of the Merck Scientific Advisory Board, Director of Roche and Genentech. He was chair of the Joint Governance Committee for reorganization of the National Academies of Sciences, Medicine and Engineering, and  co-chair of the Planning Committee for President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative.

Honors include: 2008 Wiley Prize for Biomedicine; 2014 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences; the highest scientific awards of American Heart Association, American Society of Nephrology, Council for High Blood Pressure Research, Endocrine Society, te International Society of Hypertension, International Society of Nephrology, and the Kober Medal of the Association of American Physicians.