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Jonathan Gitlin is an American pediatrician specializing in early human development and genetics and recognized for his research in human nutrition.  Prior to joining the MBL, he was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School, Washington University School of Medicine and Vanderbilt University where he was the James C. Overall Professor & Chair of the Department of Pediatrics. He is currently a Senior Scientist Emeritus at Marine Biological Laboratory, where he served as both the Director of the Eugene Bell Center and as Director of Research.  Dr. Gitlin is the author of more than 150 papers and has received numerous professional honors. He is an elected fellow of the AAAS and a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Research efforts in the laboratory have focused on the interplay of the environment and the genome in early human development as a model for understanding  human disease, environmental adaptation and evolutionary biodiversity. 

Elucidation of the genetic basis of the disorders of human copper metabolism revealed the evolutionarily conserved mechanisms of copper trafficking and compartmentalization within cells and defined the unique role of copper in synaptic plasticity and neuronal injury. Similarly, genetic studies of iron metabolism in our lab revealed the essential physiologic role of ceruloplasmin in iron homeostasis and neuronal survival in the developing central nervous system. More recently, studies utilizing zebrafish as a model for early development revealed an evolutionarily conserved developmental hierarchy of copper metabolism that is informed by specific genetic factors, providing a novel paradigm for the role of suboptimal nutrition in the pathogenesis of human birth defects. 

Current studies are focused on energy homeostasis during early development and the genetic basis for the biochemical adaptations to oxygen availability in extreme environments that are a fundamental aspect of evolutionary biology. (see Life Interrupted: Exploring the World of Extreme Adaptation)