Philipp is best known for his contributions to diabetes research, including the discovery of a protein found to be influential in problems associated with diabetes. And he's regarded as one of the leaders worldwide in the field of adipose (fat) tissue biology. He's the recipient of the American Diabetes Association's 2005 Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award, and was invited to present at an invitation-only Nobel Forum on the molecular and physiological aspects of type 2 diabetes and obesity.

He received his PhD in molecular biology at the University of Basel in Switzerland and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Massachusetts. He's also served as an associate professor in endocrinology at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine at Yeshiva University.

Phillipp is the author of numerous articles and served on editorial boards for the Journal of Biological Chemistry and the Journal of Endocrinology.