The purpose of my Visiting Professorship is to extend and develop novel collaborative research projects between Aarhus University, Steno Diabetes Centre and the University of Cambridge on the topic of screening and early treatment for type 2 diabetes. I will initially use the ADDITION-Denmark study as the basis for three related research projects, as well as developing novel research questions using different data sources.
Those bariatric operations bypassing the duodenum and the jejunum greatly improve up to normalize insulin resistance. We hypothesize that the duodenal/jejunal intestinal tract secretes hormone/s inducing insulin resistance in small amounts in healthy subjects and in progressive higher amounts in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and frank type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
It is well established that obesity greatly increases diabetes risk, yet the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. Professor James Granneman is an integrative biologist whose research investigates basic fat cell functions to identify novel molecular targets for therapeutic intervention. As part of this effort, his laboratory used high throughput screening to discover novel compounds that coax fat cells into burning energy rather than storing it.
The hepatic metabolism and the endocrine function of the liver are central in the development and treatment of type 2 diabetes. Exercise studies in rodents indicate the contribution of molecular adaptations in the liver to the beneficial effects of physical activity on glucose tolerance and metabolic homeostasis. However, molecular studies on the adaptation of human liver metabolism to exercise and the role of hepatokines herein are limited.
The aim of the collaborative project is to study the physiological role of hexokinase for metabolic regulation in skeletal muscles. Hexokinase activity is inhibited by glucose 6-phosphate, but it has recently been shown that hexokinase is phosphorylated. The physiological role of hexokinase phosphorylation for regulating glucose metabolism in skeletal muscles is unknown.
Obesity is a major risk factor for numerous metabolic and cardiovascular complications, leading to type 2 diabetes (T2D), dyslipidemia, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, not all obese individuals develop complications; about 17-45% of obese individuals remain metabolically healthy (the so-called “metabolically healthy obese”, MHO).
K.M. Venkat Narayan, MD, MSc, MBA, FRCP. Currently Ruth and O.C. Hubert Chair of Global Health, and Professor of Medicine & Epidemiology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Narayan is noted for substantial, multidisciplinary work in diabetes epidemiology.






