Dr. Petter Bjornstad is Executive Director of the UW Medicine Diabetes Institute, Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, and the Raisbeck Endowed Chair of Diabetes Research at the University of Washington, as well as a Principle Investigator at the Center for Clinical and Translational Research at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. He is an internationally recognized clinician-scientist leading a bench-to-bedside research program renowned for innovation in understanding diabetic kidney disease and its prevention.

Dr. Bjornstad’s career is defined by three interconnected themes: (1) pioneering research kidney biopsies to reveal DKD at molecular resolution, (2) developing novel imaging biomarkers to detect early metabolic perturbations, and (3) translating discoveries into mechanistic clinical trials. By integrating single‑cell and spatial omics with hyperinsulinemic‑euglycemic clamps, multiparametric MRI, and ¹¹C‑acetate PET, his group has uncovered sub‑clinical metabolic injury and actionable pathways long before conventional markers signal decline. These insights underpin multicenter trials testing metabolism‑targeted therapies in youth‑ and adult‑onset diabetes.

An author of more than 200 peer‑reviewed papers that span NEJM, JCI, Nature, Nature Medicine, and Circulation, Dr. Bjornstad sustains continuous federal support as principal or multiple‑principal investigator on NIH R01 and U01 awards while leading foundation and industry collaborations. He serves as Associate Editor for JASN and Cardiovascular Diabetology and sits on the Diabetes Care editorial board, organizing NIH and professional‑society workshops and conferences that shape DKD research directions.

A committed educator, he has mentored more than 40 trainees: several currently hold NIH K‑level awards, and others have already successfully transitioned from K‑to‑R funding, reflecting a strong team‑science culture across his laboratory and clinical networks. Through innovation and collaboration, Dr. Bjornstad advances earlier, mechanism‑based interventions to prevent kidney disease in people with diabetes.