Education
University of Chicago. University of Michigan.
University of Chicago. University of Michigan.
Reaven"s work on insulin resistance and diabetes with John West. Farquhar goes back at least to 1968. In his lecture, he propounded the theory that central obesity (male-type or apple-shaped obesity), diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure) have a common cause in insulin resistance and impaired glucose tolerance. Initially titled "syndrome X", the constellation of symptoms is now known as the metabolic syndrome and an object of extensive scientific inquiry, especially given that the combination strongly predisposes for cardiovascular disease.
Still, Reaven believes that contemporary criteria are arbitrary and that it may not be necessary to define it as a diagnostic entity more than a pathophysiological parameter.
He obtained his academic qualifications at the University of Chicago and did his internship there. After research work in Stanford and two years in the United States. Army medical corps he completed his residency at the University of Michigan.
He then took up a United States Public Health Service research post at Stanford, where he progressed to a full professorship in 1970. He led endocrinology and gerontology research.
Apart from his work at Stanford he is also Senior Vice President for Research for Shaman Pharmaceuticals, Incorporated. in South San Francisco.
He is co-author of a popular book on Syndrome X and its repercussions on cardiovascular disease.