Henry Zelada Castro, MD

Dr. Henry Zelada, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Medical Director, Inpatient Glycemic Service, UCLA Health

Dr. Henry Zelada is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the Medical Director of the Inpatient Glycemic Service at UCLA Health. He specializes in managing complex diabetes cases, including Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, and Gestational Diabetes. His expertise also encompasses insulin pump therapy and atypical forms of diabetes, such as post-transplant diabetes, cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, monogenic diabetes, and diabetes due to secondary causes. He is a strong advocate for precision medicine, emphasizing the importance of accurately diagnosing diabetes subtypes before initiating therapy. Additionally, he has extensive experience managing peritoneal dialysis-associated hyperglycemia, post-bariatric hypoglycemia, hypoglycemia of unknown origin, and metabolic health.

Dr. Zelada earned his medical degree from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, one of the top medical schools in Peru, and completed his internal medicine residency at a University of Illinois at Chicago-affiliated hospital. He then pursued a fellowship in endocrinology at Washington University in St. Louis under the mentorship of Dr. Janet McGill, focusing on diabetes care and emerging diabetes technologies. Following his fellowship, he joined the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) as an Assistant Professor of Medicine, where he played a key role in training endocrinology fellows in insulin pump therapy, managing complex diabetes cases, and enhancing the inpatient hyperglycemia curriculum.

Dr. Zelada has received research grants from organizations such as the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (ENVISION Grant) to develop expertise in cystic fibrosis-related endocrinopathies. He has also secured institutional research funding for diabetes care. His research focuses on improving diabetes management in patients with atypical forms of the disease and leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance inpatient glycemic control.

Beyond his clinical and research work, Dr. Zelada is deeply committed to medical education. He has developed inpatient diabetes management guides and innovative educational resources for fellows, advanced practice providers (APPs), and residents, with the goal of improving diabetes care across diverse healthcare settings.