Dudley Lamming, PhD, assistant professor, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, is the principal investigator on a new project that aims to accelerate diabetes and metabolism research at UW–Madison.

With support from the UW2020: WARF Discovery Initiative, Dr. Lamming and collaborators will establish two new innovative research core facilities that will provide state-of-the-art experimental capacity for a new Comprehensive Diabetes Center at UW–Madison. The 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.

Research on obesity, diabetes and metabolism has significant public health relevance. 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.

Judith Simcox, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Biochemistry, is the project’s co-principal investigator.

Co-investigators are:

• Dawn Davis, MD, PhD, associate professor, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism; and director, UW–Madison Diabetes Research Center
• Christopher Bradfield, PhD, professor, Department of Oncology; and director, UW Biotechnology Center
• Alan Attie, PhD, professor, Department of Biochemistry
• Rozalyn Anderson, PhD, associate professor, Geriatrics and Gerontology
• Vincent Cryns, MD, professor and division head, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
• Troy Hornberger, PhD, associate professor, Department of Comparative Biosciences
• Kristen Malecki, PhD, MPH, associate professor, Department of Population Health Sciences; and director, Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW)
• David Pagliarini, PhD, associate professor, Department of Biochemistry; and leader of the Morgridge Institute for Research Metabolism Theme
• Federico Rey, PhD, associate professor, Department of Bacteriology

The UW2020: WARF Discovery Initiative is funded by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

Its goal is to stimulate and support cutting-edge, highly innovative and groundbreaking research at UW–Madison and to support acquisition of shared instruments or equipment that will foster significant advances in research.

Resource:

• “Accelerating diabetes and metabolism research at UW–Madison.” UW–Madison news article. Accessed May 11, 2020.

Banner: File photo of Dr. Lamming and a former graduate student in his lab. Credit: Clint Thayer/Department of Medicine.