Ajay Chawla, MD, PhD – Richard E. Weitzman Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award. This annual award recognizes an exceptionally promising young clinical or basic investigator. Chawla’s work has established general principles by which innate immunity extends the homeostatic capacity of tissues, which has deepened the understanding of metabolic diseases. Over the last decade, Chawla’s contributions have spanned the areas of physiological, regenerative, and circadian homeostasis. Chawla was first to demonstrate that in response to cold temperature, catecholamine hormones made in the adrenal glands can stimulate the browning of white fat tissue so the tissue burns more energy, a finding that may have value in managing obesity. Chawla is an Associate Professor of Physiology and Medicine at the Cardiovascular Research Institute of the University of California San Francisco.