Ian M. Burr Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes

From left, Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD; Research Staff Award recipients Sandra Yoder, MLS, SCYM, Faith Brendle, RN, CPN, CCRP, and Prashant Singh, MS; and John Kuriyan, PhD. (photo by Susan Urmy)
April 9, 2025

Research Staff Awards honor three who drive research in the School of Medicine

“Research often begins with inquiring minds asking deep questions,” said Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD. “But making discoveries requires a team effort.”

By Bill Snyder
Bill Russell, MD, left, with patient and trial participant Spencer Mannahan and his father, Zach. (photo by Evan Dorian)
January 22, 2025

Milestone in VUMC-affiliated diabetes screening and research program underscores impact of clinical trials

Screening and clinical trials are further advancing research to develop therapies that delay or prevent the progression to clinical disease in people at risk of developing Type 1 diabetes.

By Evan Dorian
October 16, 2024

Study seeks to improve brain health in children with Type 1 diabetes

Children with Type 1 diabetes are at increased risk for neurocognitive complications. Vanderbilt University Medical Center has been selected as one of 11 clinical centers in the United States to evaluate children newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes for neurocognitive outcomes.

By Jessica Pasley
Jennifer Najjar, MD, spent her career caring and advocating for children with diabetes and other endocrine disorders as well as helping to train the next generation of pediatric endocrinologists and pediatricians.
August 12, 2024

Jennifer Najjar named Senior Pediatrician of the Year

She will be honored Aug. 17 during the TNAAP Excellence in Pediatrics Annual Awards, which recognize pediatricians and community members who have made exceptional contributions to children’s health advocacy in Tennessee.

By Christina Echegaray
Jennifer Najjar, MD, center, with longtime colleagues Margaret Anderson, DNP, FNP-BC, left, and Barbara Duffy, MSN, APRN, CPNP. (photo by Donn Jones)
July 8, 2024

Noted pediatric endocrinologist Jennifer Najjar retires after 47 years at Vanderbilt

After 47 years as a pediatric endocrinologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Jennifer Najjar is reflecting on her life of work, highlighting moments of pride and gratitude for her patients and colleagues, and relishing in her ability to practice medicine while also training the next generation of pediatric doctors.

By Christina Echegaray
February 2, 2024

Study links small pancreas size to faster progression to stage 3 Type 1 diabetes

The study findings, published in the journal Diabetes Care, suggest that pancreas imaging can have a benefit in tracking disease development and recruitment for preventive and therapeutic trials.

By Jill Clendening
March 23, 2023

Study sheds light on drug’s impact on diabetes progression

A Vanderbilt study of a treatment to delay the development of Type 1 diabetes in individuals at high risk did not meet the study goals of delaying progression from normal glucose tolerance to abnormal glucose tolerance or clinical diagnosis, although the study drug, abatacept, impacted immune response and preserved insulin production during the one-year treatment period.
By Craig Boerner
March 9, 2023

Family’s participation key to advancing diabetes research

A study of one family from Alabama has led Vanderbilt researchers to discover that insulin deficiency, independent of the autoimmunity associated with Type 1 diabetes, is the principal factor leading to a markedly smaller pancreas.
By Jill Clendening
September 1, 2022

Trial participant steps up to help advance diabetes research

Vanderbilt is one of 16 North American sites conducting the Tolerance Using Plasmid in People with Type 1 Diabetes (TOPPLE) study, a phase 1 investigation that tests the safety and dosing of a new plasmid therapy.
By Jill Clendening
February 10, 2022

New insights into hypothalamic obesity

A common Type 2 diabetes treatment being tested for hypothalamic obesity had unexpected results on weight loss and total energy expenditure, Vanderbilt researchers report.
By VUMC News and Communications
September 16, 2021

‘Pre-conditioning’ restores immune tolerance

A treatment targeting T-cell metabolism could reinvigorate immune tolerance mechanisms to combat autoimmune disease and transplant rejection, Vanderbilt researchers discovered.
By Bill Snyder
August 27, 2021

Study proves standardized protocol can support reliable MRI use for multisite pancreatic research

Researchers with the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center (DRTC) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center led a multisite study which has demonstrated that, when controlled and standardized, quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the pancreas is highly reproducible when using different MRI hardware and software at different geographic locations.
By Jill Clendening
November 3, 2020

New treatment for a rare obesity

Diabetes drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, such as exenatide (Byetta), are a promising and safe treatment for a rare form of obesity.
By Bill Snyder
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