9 January DRC Director's Report - January 2025 January 9, 2025 By The Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center DRC, iowa, Diabetes Research, FOE Charity Foundation 0 The Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center hosted its 10th Annual Retreat on November 23rd at the University of Iowa’s College of Pharmacy. This day-long event highlighted the incredible work being accomplished within the FOEDRC and provided a discussion for collaboration. The day began with welcoming remarks from the FOEDRC Co-Directors, Dr. Kamal Rahmouni and Dr. Andrew Norris, who set the tone for an engaging day. Following their remarks, core facility updates were provided by Eric Weatherford, Director of the Metabolic Phenotyping Core Facility who gave an overview of the services and advancements offered by the core and Eric Taylor, Director of the Metabolomics Core Facility who shared updates on the facility’s recent contributions to diabetes research. Next, Gourav Bhardwaj, Research Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine – Endocrinology and Metabolism, presented findings from his work as a recent recipient of the Pilot and Feasibility Grant. The retreat also featured presentations from three T32 Trainees: Kyle Baum, DO - Weight Loss Induced Effect on Lean Body Mass and Skeletal Muscle Physiology Colin Gimblet, PhD - Targeting the Vascular Endothelium to Lower Cardiovascular Risk in Prediabetes Alex Keyes, PhD - Dynorphinergic Neurons in the Lateral Pons Inhibit Inflammatory and Neuropathic Pain via a Descending Circuit Their research highlighted the innovative work being undertaken by the next generation of diabetes scientists. After a short break, the keynote presentation was delivered by Carmella Evans-Molina, MD, PhD, Director of Indiana Diabetes Research Center at the Indiana School of Medicine. Her lecture titled “The Many Faces of Type 1 Diabetes: Understanding Cell and Tissue-Specific Contributions to Biomarker and Treatment Strategies” helped drive thoughtful discussions. During lunch, attendees had the chance to explore poster presentations by three T32-trainee researchers: Anna Leinheiser, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar, Applied Mathematical and Computational Sciences: A Dynamical Systems Model for the Total Fission Rate in Drp1-dependent Mitochondrial Fission. Bertha Martin, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology: Role of Caudal Raphe Neurons in Thermoregulation. Dalal El Ladiki, MD, Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Internal Medicine: Understanding the Role of LIPA-mediated Lipophagy in Maintaining the Function and Health of Beta Islet Cells. Following lunch, Bing Li, PhD, recipient of the Bridge to the Cure Grant, presented on his research titled “Targeting FABP4 for the Treatment of Obesity-Associated Diseases.” The retreat concluded with presentations from the Center for Gene Therapy by Amy Ryan, PhD, Associate Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology and Christoph Randak, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics – Pulmonary Medicine offering insights into cutting-edge therapeutic approaches. For the 10th year in a row the retreat was a resounding success, showcasing the depth of research within the FOEDRC and fostering collaboration among scientists and trainees. We look forward to another year of diabetes related discoveries and shared progress in our mission to combat diabetes! Related Articles DRC Director's Report - January 2021 A recent study by a team of UI researchers led by E. Dale Abel, MD, PhD, Director, FOEDRC discovered eating a ketogenic diet rescued mice from heart failure. The study, published in the November issue of the journal Nature Metabolism, was one of three companion papers from independent research teams that all point to the damaging effects of excess sugar (glucose) and its breakdown products on the heart. The UI study also revealed the potential to mitigate that damage by supplying the heart with alternate fuel sources in the form of high-fat diets. Given its need for a constant, reliable supply of energy, the heart is very flexible about the type of molecules it can burn for fuel. Most of the heart’s energy comes from metabolizing fatty acids, but heart cells can also burn glucose and lactate, and also ketones. DRC Director's Report - January 2019 The new year is always a time to look back and reflect on the many achievements of the prior year. I have been pleased that the Fraternal Order of Eagles has committed continued support to a program that will be overseen by the FOEDRC that seeks to develop new treatments for diabetes and its complications and to bring them ultimately to market. The Bridge to the cure program represents an innovative collaboration and we are excited by what this new year will bring. For this reason, I have chosen to write about one example from a FOEDRC member that recently demonstrated the ability of the compound nicotinamide riboside to restore nerve damage from chemotherapy. We believe that this same mechanism could lead to improved nerve function in people with diabetes. I hope that you will enjoy reading about this exciting advance below. DRC Director's Report - January 2023 The Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center held its 8th annual retreat on December 3, 2022, at the Terry Trueblood Recreation Center. DRC faculty and senior trainees came together for a day of research and celebration of the Center’s continued success. The day began with opening remarks by Co-Directors’ Kamal Rahmouni, PhD and Andrew Norris, MD, PhD followed by updates from the Metabolic Phenotyping Core and the Metabolomics Core Facility. We also heard from two new DRC faculty members, Bing Li, PhD, and Marcelo Correia, MD. This year we listened to presentations reporting annual progress from last year’s Pilot and Feasibility Grant Recipients, Katie Larson Ode, MD, Jon Resch, PhD, Ling Yang, PhD and Erin Talbert, PhD. DRC Director's Report - January 2020 The New Year is a good time to reflect on our past progress and to look forward to research advances in the year to come. In this regard, the receipt of endowed chairs recognizes faculty whom we believe have established a track record of accomplishment and whose ongoing success will pave the way for the future of the FOEDRC. Therefore, we would like to recognize Dr. Sue Bodine, Dr. Ayotunde Dokun, and Dr. Kamal Rahmouni, the three newest recipients of endowed chairs from the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center (FOEDRC). DRC Director's Report - January 2022 It is with mixed emotions, but with a sense of great pride in our accomplishments that I write this my final Director’s report. When I came to the University of Iowa nearly 9-years ago, I was given a challenge to leverage the generous gift of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, to develop a world class diabetes research center. I reflected back on where things were at the University of Iowa in 2008, when the FOE began your campaign for the Diabetes Research Center and where they are now. In 2008, there were 5 faculty members identified as doing diabetes research with a total team of 20. We had 10 grants received and approximately $1M in funding from the National Institute of Health. DRC Director's Report - December 2018 As we come to the end of another successful year for the FOEDRC, I want to thank the FOE and my colleagues within the Diabetes Research Center for continuing to push the research boundaries to improve the lives of many who suffer from diabetes. On a personal note, I received a number of honors for my work this year including being asked to deliver the Presidential Lecture of the University of Iowa, receiving Fraternal Order of Eagles Humanitarian Award and the 2018 History Makers Award - the African American Museum of Iowa (AAMI). My receipt of this recognition is really a recognition of what you do and I consider myself very fortunate to lead such an outstanding organization. To close out the year I thought you might be interested in reading about some ways that our researchers are turning “fun and games” into a benefit for our patients with diabetes. Showing 0 Comment Comments are closed.