Accelerating diabetes and metabolism research at UW–Madison

An obesity epidemic is sweeping across the United States including Wisconsin. Obesity is associated with an increased risk of diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Over 475,000 Wisconsin residents have diabetes, resulting in estimated healthcare costs of over $6 billion per year. An additional 1.4 million Wisconsinites over the age of 20 are estimated to have pre-diabetes. Diabetes adversely impacts under-represented minorities leading to higher rates and secondary complications.

This project establishes two new innovative research core facilities that will accelerate diabetes and metabolism research at UW–Madison by providing state-of-the-art experimental capacity to support a new Comprehensive Diabetes Center at UW–Madison. These new cores include a Mouse Phenotyping and Surgery Core (MPSC) and the Advanced Lipidomics Facility (ALF).

Mouse metabolic phenotyping is a crucial component of modern biomedical research and critical to experiments analyzing whole animal metabolism in mouse models of obesity, diabetes, aging, and many other diseases. The study of lipid metabolites will allow for the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic tools to combat diabetes and metabolic disease.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Dudley Lamming, assistant professor of endocrinology

CO-PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Judith Simcox, assistant professor of biochemistry

CO-INVESTIGATORS
Dawn Davis, associate professor of medicine and director of the UW–Madison Diabetes Research Center

Christopher Bradfield, professor of oncology and director of the UW Biotechnology Center

Alan Attie, professor of biochemistry

Rozalyn Anderson, associate professor medicine

Vincent Cryns, professor of medicine

Troy Hornberger, associate professor of comparative biosciences

Kristen Malecki, associate professor of population health sciences and director of the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW)

David Pagliarini, associate professor of biochemistry and leader of the Morgridge Institute for Research Metabolism Theme

Federico Rey, associate professor of bacteriology