Dudley Lamming, PhD (pictured at upper right), assistant professor, and Matthew Merrins, PhD, assistant professor (pictured at lower right), both of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, were awarded $100,000 over eight months as a supplement to their original National Institutes of Health proposal (R21 award) entitled "Analysis of age-associated changes in beta cell function and metabolism through live single-cell imaging.” 

The funds will allow Drs. Lamming and Merrins to use novel metabolic sensors to gain insight into metabolic defects in glucose and mitochondrial metabolism that result from Alzheimer's disease.

These supplementary funds expand the original study, which investigated the precise nature of pancreatic beta cell defects that emerge with age and obesity. Through this work, the research team hopes to gain insight as to whether these defects can be mitigated by known interventions that extend healthspan, which is defined as the number of years during which one is generally healthy and free from serious disease conditions.

Resources:

• "Analysis of age-associated changes in beta cell function and metabolism through live single-cell imaging," NIH Grantome