Rate My Professor David Perlmutter

David H. Perlmutter, MD, serves as executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and the George and Carol Bauer Dean of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where he is also the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor. He joined the university in 2015. A national leader in the field of pediatric gastroenterology, Perlmutter was trained at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Boston Children’s Hospital. He has held faculty positions at Harvard Medical School, the University of Pittsburgh, and Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to his current role, he was distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and physician-in-chief and scientific director at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He previously spent 15 years as a faculty member in the Department of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine.

As a physician-scientist, Perlmutter is internationally recognized for his research on alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a genetic disorder. His work has advanced understanding of how cells dispose of misfolded proteins and led to the development of a pipeline of drugs targeting autophagy. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, past president of the Society for Pediatric Research, and has received awards including the E. Mead Johnson Award for Research in Pediatrics and the Sass-Kortsak Award for Pediatric Liver Research. He has authored more than 200 scientific publications and holds 10 U.S. patents or patent applications. Perlmutter will conclude his deanship on June 30, 2026, and remain on the faculty.