Recently, the University of Iowa Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center (FOEDRC) held our annual Diabetes Research Day in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. This year, Diabetes Research Day was a hybrid event comprised of speakers from both institutions and split into two different events.
Our first keynote speaker was Bryan Bergman, PhD. Professor in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus who gave a talk entitled Intermuscular Adipose Tissue: A Novel Adipose Depot Impacting Muscle Strength, Size, and Insulin Sensitivity in Humans.
Our second keynote address was given by Carmella Evans-Molina, Ph.D., MD, Director, Indiana Diabetes Research Center Indiana University School of Medicine who presented a talk entitled Precision Approaches to Disease Modifying Therapies in Type 1 Diabetes. In addition to the keynote address, Dr. Eric Weatherford of the University of Iowa FOEDRC provided a new update on our Metabolic Phenotyping Core, and Dr. Maria Razzoli of the University of Minnesota presented an update on the Physiology Core.
Trainees from both institutions also presented their ongoing research: Kathleen Robinson presented a talk entitled Experiences of Weight Stigma in Healthcare: A Mixed Methods Analysis; Adeyinka Taiwo presented Metabolomics analysis of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; Megan Beetch, Briana Clifton, Brian Ahkaphong, and Emilyn Alejandro presented Mechanisms of Fetal Programming of Metabolic Dysfunction by Placental mTORC1 Nutrient Sensing; Tyler Titcomb presented Association of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus with Dementia-related Mortality Among Postmenopausal Women: A Prospective Cohort Study; Gary Deng presented Loss of ciliary adenylyl cyclase 3 in the ventromedial hypothalamus results in a sex-dependent obese phenotype in Type 1 Diabetes.
The winners of the 2021 Collaborative Pilot & Feasibility Grant, Katie Larson-Ode, MD, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of Iowa, and Melena Bellin, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology, University of Minnesota gave a talk on their Pilot & Feasibility research entitled “Mechanisms of Dysglycemia and Development of Diabetes in Children with Acute Recurrent or Chronic Pancreatitis:” In addition, in our virtual talk sessions (in lieu of a traditional in-person poster session) we featured over 130 faculty members, trainees, post-docs, and graduate students from both the University of Iowa and the University of Minnesota. Diabetes Research Day 2022 was a resounding success. We are already looking forward to Diabetes Research Day 2023!
