Monday, February 6, 2017

February 2017 Research Update


RESEARCH UPDATE

Update from the Diabetes Obesity Metabolism Institute (DOMI)

Andrew Stewart MD, Director of DOMI
The Diabetes Obesity Metabolism Institute (DOMI)is the principal research arm for diabetes, obesity and metabolism activities at Mount Sinai. It includes a core of 23 research faculty, who collectively garner $8Million annually in research support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the American Diabetes Association, and other funding agencies and foundations. Together with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Health System, DOMI shares one of 16 Diabetes Research Center grants from the NIH. In addition to the 23 primary DOMI faculty members, there are an additional 40-50 affiliated members at Mount Sinai who work in diabetes/obesity related research. Mount Sinai has a long and proud history of diabetes research, from the discovery of the first blood tests to measure insulin which led to the 1977 Nobel Prize, to many new "firsts", some examples of which follow. You can learn much more from our website

Type 1 Diabetes (T1D):
  • Through Carol Levy MD and David Lam MD, in Endocrinology, we have initiated New York City's largest Artificial Pancreas research program.
  •  Peng Wang PhDRupangi Vasavada PhDNagesha Kondewgowda PhD and Andrew Stewart    MD have discovered the first drugs that are able to induce human beta cells to regenerate.
  •  Dirk Homann MD, PhD was recruited to spearhead research program in the autoimmunity that underlies T1D.
Type 2 Diabetes (T2D):
  • Daniel Donovan MD and Jeanine Albu MD lead a large and growing portfolio of T2D clinical research programs at Mount Sinai Hospital and the new Diabetes Research Center at Mount Sinai-Saint Lukes.
  •  Donald Scott MDChristoph Buettner MD, PhD, and Adolfo-Garcia-Ocaña PhD
  • Derek LeRoith MD and Emily Gallagher MD comprise a leading a center exploring the link between T2D and cancer risk.
Obesity
  • We have the largest bariatric surgery program in New York City, based at Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai St. Luke's.
  • We have outstanding research programs in adipocyte (fat cell) metabolism, led by Susan Fried PhDKalypso Karastergiou MD PhD and others.
  • These are coupled with internationally renowned obesity genomics programs led by Ruth Loos PhD.
Brain Control of Metabolism:
  • Led by Drs. Christoph Buettner and Sarah Stanley, and in collaboration with theFriedman Brain Institute at Mount Sinai, we have one of the premier centers in the US. Researchers are showing that the brain controls not only appetite, but also metabolic rate in fat tissue, liver and muscle: the main organs that consume calories and generate heat to balance calorie intake from food. Read -more here about the Buettner lab 

Artificial Pancreas (AP) Program Update

Research continues to proceed in this exciting area! We have competed the initial testing of the Type Zero AP system and have a collaboration with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute studying a novel new system. We anticipate the Type Zero main study will begin enrolling in the Spring of 2017. The Animas AP system study is planned to open to enrollment late spring as well. Additional studies are being finalized and more will opening over the next few months! For those of you on injections, we have not forgotten about you! Studies are planned for a support system for people on daily injections to manage their diabetes. If you have further questions about any AP studies, please call Selassie Ogyaadu, MD, MPH research coordinator at 212-241-9089.