
Denise Belsham
Denise Belsham
Professor Denise Belsham is an award-winning educator and researcher in the Department of Physiology and Medicine at the University of Toronto. She was awarded a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Neuroendocrinology, the most prestigious research award in Canada, that supports her salary and prolific research program. She is recognized as a world expert in the development of representative neuronal cell models to study many aspects of brain function. With this in mind, she developed an array of over 300 clonal neuronal and glial cell models from the hypothalamus, and other brain regions, now in over 600 labs worldwide. Her neuroendocrine research includes obesity, circadian rhythms, and reproduction. The main focus of her laboratory is to understand, at the molecular level, how the hypothalamus achieves its diverse physiological functions. She has served as Acting Chair and Vice Chair of the Department of Physiology, a 400-person strong department within the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. She was awarded the prestigious President’s Teaching Award at the University of Toronto, the highest teaching accolade possible, as well as awards for “Sustained Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Excellence” and the “Excellence in Linking Undergraduate Teaching to Research in Life Sciences Award” from the Faculty of Medicine. She has trained over 160 future scientists, of which 85% have been women and/or from underrepresented minority groups in STEM. Her proactive dedication to equity, diversity, and inclusion has and will continue to change the research landscape.
Professor Belsham is deeply committed to ensuring that her basic science discoveries are translated to products that both aid future research and have the potential to be developed as therapeutics for endocrine/metabolic disorders. As one of the elite group of female entrepreneurs, Professor Belsham has been involved in the creation of four start-up companies, including her original company, CELLutions Biosystems, Inc, to distribute her novel neuronal cell lines. Further, she has just founded and incorporated a new company, ZAPetite Inc for the commercialization of her recently patented discovery of a plant-based appetite suppressant. She was the Chairperson for the International Congress of Neuroendocrinology held July 2018 in Toronto and is the Past President of the Pan American Neuroendocrine Society. She is now the first female President of the International Neuroendocrine Federation, the global home to 18 Neuroendocrine Societies.