7 May DRC Investigators Continue To Excel In Research May 7, 2018 By The Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center 2 DRC Director's Report - May 2018 This month I feature two additional grant awards that have been received by faculty members in the FOEDRC. Dr. Lira Vitor, Assistant Professor in Health and Human Physiology and member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Center and the Obesity Research and Education Initiative at the University of Iowa, received an American Heart Association (AHA) Scientist Development Grant. This 3-year $308,000 award is for a project entitled, Molecular insights into the exercise-mediated protection against diabetic cardiomyopathy. Dr. Lira’s Lab will study an important mechanism for heart failure in diabetes called diabetic cardiomyopathy. This condition, affects more than 40% of patients with type 2 diabetes, leads to heart failure and lacks effective therapy. Exercise protects the diabetic heart, at least in part, by stimulating the pathway of autophagy, which degrades malfunctioning proteins and cellular structures. The goal of this project is to elucidate the role of the protein kinases ULK1/2 and the transcription factor ATF4 in the exercise-mediated regulation of cardiac autophagy in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Determining the molecular regulation of cardiac autophagy by exercise in obesity and type 2 diabetes, might reveal alternative targets for therapy. Second, Dr. Andrew Norris, the Associate Director of the FOEDRC and Associate Professor of Pediatrics was recently awarded a $1.9M grant from the National Institutes of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Disease (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health. The proposal entitled Splanchno-Hormonal Mechanisms of Cystic Fibrosis Related Diabetes seeks to elucidate a novel mechanism that may explain the increased risk for diabetes in individuals affected by cystic fibrosis. Specifically, Dr. Norris has identified that a hormone called pancreatic polypeptide may play a pivotal role. For unclear reasons most people who have cystic fibrosis will develop diabetes by middle age, placing them at much higher risk of lung failure and death. Studies in Dr. Norris’ laboratory showed that low levels of a hormone called pancreatic polypeptide (PP) raises diabetes risk in patients with cystic fibrosis. The proposed study aims to understand why PP is low in cystic fibrosis and to apply this knowledge to develop new therapies for diabetes in cystic fibrosis patients. PP-based therapies may have potential to treat other types of diabetes as well. The FOEDRC is very proud of the achievements of our outstanding faculty. Related Articles FOE DRC Investigators Continue To Excel In Research Faculty members in the FOEDRC continue to excel in their ability to obtain competitive extramural funding for their research projects. In this month’s newsletter I will highlight new grant awards obtained by two of our members and next month I will feature another two. Dr. Julien Sebag, Assistant Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and member of the FOEDRC was recently awarded a 5-year $1.9M grant from the NIDDK for a project entitled: Investigating the requirement of MRAP2 for ghrelin function. American Diabetes Association Supports FOEDRC Researchers DRC Director's Report - January 2018 Three researchers from the FOEDRC received new grants from the American Diabetes Association for groundbreaking research. The ability of our members to receive these competitive awards is truly remarkable and underscores the quality and rigor of the research that is being conducted in the FOEDRC. There are few institutions that received multiple awards in this current round of ADA funding. The awards to Drs. Ling Yang, Rajan Sah and Adam Rauckhorst are summarized below. DRC Researchers Publish Major Breakthrough In Understanding How Diabetes Induces Eye Damage In the retina, diabetes damages nerves before it damages blood vessels. Diabetes is a major risk factor for severe vision loss and blindness. A condition known as retinal diabetic neuropathy causes visual impairment through the degeneration of small nerves (neurons) in light-sensitive tissue called the retina, which lines the back of the eye. FOEDRC Continues To Lead In Studies Increasing Our Understanding of FGF21 DRC Director's Report, July 2017 As diabetes researchers work to identify potential new treatments for diabetes, colleagues at the FOEDRC continue to advance our understanding of how newly discovered hormones might work in ways that may lead to new ways to treat and prevent obesity and diabetes. One such hormone is fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21). Dr. Matthew Potthoff recently showed in mice that this hormone critically regulates the “sweet tooth” in mice. In a recent follow up study with collaborators from Denmark and published in the Journal Cell Metabolism, it is now confirmed that FGF21 also regulates sweet preference in humans. Now, Dr. Potthoff’s team has solved another piece of the puzzle by showing how and where FGF21 might act to regulate the body’s metabolism. DRC Researcher Chris Adams Develops New Therapy for Age-Related Muscle Atrophy Scientists at the FOE Diabetes Research Center and University of Iowa have discovered the first example of a protein that causes muscle weakness and loss during aging. The protein, ATF4, is a transcription factor that alters gene expression in skeletal muscle, causing reduction of muscle protein synthesis, strength, and mass. The UI study also identifies two natural compounds, one found in apples and one found in green tomatoes, which reduce ATF4 activity in aged skeletal muscle. Adams Named Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Chair Christopher Adams, MD, PhD, has been named the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Chair. This position has been endowed by the Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE) to propel and accelerate the pace of discoveries in the FOE Diabetes Research Center (FOEDRC), whose mission is to advance knowledge of the mechanisms of diabetes and its related complications through cutting-edge research. Showing 2 Comments UK Dissertation Writing Service The opportunity on itself a great deal like the formation to introduce the continue to-excel research precious information always I get acknowledge really the place where exceed amount of knowledge in the best writing with descriptions. 6 years ago best essay writing service You have posted such precious and informative post here, which gave me lot of information. I hope that you will keep posting these kinds of tips and we will have more informative and helping news from you. 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