Research Description
The most common long-term diabetes-related health problems involves damage to multiple organ systems including the kidneys, eyes, heart, and nervous system. Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a growing public health challenge stemming from diabetes mellitus that severely compromises kidney function. Traditional therapies that control blood glucose levels and improve sensitivity to insulin stem the progression of DN, yet many diabetic patients still develop kidney function deficits that require replacement therapies like dialysis and organ transplantation. To eliminate the complications of diabetes and improve patient health outcomes, a nuanced knowledge of the step-wise progression of this disease is required. There presently exists a significant gap in our understanding of the molecular events whereby diabetes causes loss of kidney function, that represents a critical barrier to the design and implementation of preventative therapeutics. Levels of the stress response protein REDD1 are increased in the kidneys of both diabetic patients and in preclinical diabetes models, in association with elevated blood glucose concentrations and increased urinary protein excretion. Therapies that target REDD1 hold tremendous potential, but not knowing which cell populations to target within the kidney remains a major barrier to their implementation. The studies herein are highly innovative because they represent an entirely different outlook at current understanding of kidney cell function and employ a targeted approach that will utilize cutting-edge techniques to identify and characterize REDD1 as a molecular target for interventions that address the underlying cause of diabetic kidney disease.Research Profile
What area of diabetes research does your project cover? What role will this particular project play in preventing, treating and/or curing diabetes?The overarching goal of this research project is to prevent kidney complications in diabetic patients by understanding and identifying key early molecular events that contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy. This project represents an entirely different and targeted approach that will utilize cutting-edge techniques to characterize molecular targets for interventions that address the underlying cause of diabetic kidney disease.
If a person with diabetes were to ask you how your project will help them in the future, how would you respond?Current diabetic therapies are focused on controlling blood glucose levels and/or improving insulin sensitivity but often fail to address the underlying cause of most diabetic complications. By identifying and characterizing novel proteins in specific cell types within the kidney that contribute to renal complications in diabetes, the results from this research can have significant outcomes in developing therapeutics that potentially prevent kidney function deficits in diabetic patients.
Why important for you, personally, to become involved in diabetes research? What role will this award play?I started my research with a goal to help “advance medicine.” However, as my research delved further into this field and I observed patients suffering from diabetes, the motivation that drives me forward is now centered on research to improve the lives of people living with this disease. This award will allow me to not only address the etiology of diabetic nephropathies by identifying new therapeutic targets for interventions but more importantly it will help further my training to augment my existing skills. This award will also allow for the pursuit of an independent research career where I can put my acquired training and systems of analysis into practice to potentially translate our findings from bench to bedside.
In what direction do you see the future of diabetes research going?Pharmacological research appears the most promising for significantly reducing the burden of diabetes mellitus. However, off-target effects largely limit the use of a lot of drugs. I firmly believe that timely intervention using targeted therapeutics could pave the way in stemming the progression of diabetic complications especially chronic kidney disease.