Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center (DRTC)

May 23, 2022

Vanderbilt Diabetes Day celebrates investigational achievements, looks toward future

Vanderbilt Diabetes Day, an annual event that showcases the work of outstanding scientists and researchers in the fields of diabetes, obesity and metabolism was held this month, and it marked the first time many investigators working under the auspices of the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center (DRTC) had gathered in one space since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Jill Clendening
November 11, 2021

International gathering scrutinizes immune response, beta cell biology in Type 1 diabetes

By Jill Clendening
Team members involved in the study include, from left, Melissa Hilmes, MD, Daniel Moore, MD, PhD, Alvin Powers, MD, Jon Williams, PhD, and Jack Virostko, PhD. (photo by Jessica Kimber)
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
Insulin in vials
May 20, 2021

Beta cell regeneration

Vanderbilt researchers dissected the complex microenvironment of the pancreatic islet to discover the signals that drive beta cell regeneration — as a possible treatment for diabetes.

By Leigh MacMillan
December 22, 2020

Pancreatlas provides access to complex images of the human pancreas

Images of cells and tissues are a critical part of biomedical research as they show which molecules or proteins are present and where these molecules are located in the tissue. Using increasingly sophisticated microscopes and imaging approaches, scientists can now look at more than 40 different molecules at once, an approach known as multi-plex imaging, where in the past they could only look at three or four molecules at a time.

By Jill Clendening
Marcela Brissova, PhD, and MD/PhD student John “Jack” Walker are part of the research team that developed a pseudoislet system for integrated studies of human islet function.
July 30, 2020

Pseudoislet system expected to advance pancreas and diabetes research

The multicellular, 3-D structure of human pancreatic islets — the areas of the pancreas containing hormone-producing or endocrine cells — has presented challenges to researchers as they study and manipulate these cells’ function, but Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have now developed a pseudoislet system that allows for much easier study of islet function.

By Jill Clendening
April 25, 2019

Study expands insight on shrinking pancreas in type 1 diabetes

Researchers with the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center (DRTC) have discovered a progressive decline in pancreas volume over a one-year period in children and adolescents with newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetes.
By Jill Clendening
February 28, 2019

Evans set for next Discovery Lecture

Ronald Evans, PhD, renowned for his discoveries of nuclear hormone receptors and how they work, will deliver the next Flexner Discovery Lecture on Thursday, March 7.
By Leigh MacMillan
September 13, 2018

First Islet Workshop draws international audience

More than 200 investigators from across the globe who specialize in islet biology, the study of hormone-producing cell clusters in the pancreas known as islets, recently gathered in Nashville to share knowledge and present the challenges and successes of their work during the first Islet Biology Workshop at Vanderbilt.
By Jill Clendening
December 14, 2017

Diabetes Day

Research achievement was recognized recently during Diabetes Day at the Student Life Center. Among those honored were (beginning second from left) Bryan Gitschlag, Danielle Dean, PhD, Ian Williams, Caroline Presley, MD, and Suzanne Starr. Award winners are flanked by Tom Elasy, MD, MPH, (left) and Alvin Powers, MD. Diabetes Day was sponsored by the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center and the Vanderbilt Center for Diabetes Translation Research and supported by the National Institutes of Health.
By VUMC News and Communications
November 9, 2017

New phenotyping program to bolster global diabetes research efforts

The use of human pancreatic islets to conduct diabetes-related research has greatly expanded in recent years, and a Human Islet Phenotyping Program (HIPP) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has been established to provide important islet data to investigators worldwide.
By Jill Clendening
September 28, 2017

Cellular calcium handling in diabetes

Potassium channels in a cellular organelle regulate calcium flux and appear to play a critical role in pancreatic beta cell health.
By Leigh MacMillan
September 21, 2017

Pancreatic islets study may spur diabetes treatment advances

Investigators in the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center (VDRTC) and collaborators at Stanford University have discovered new insights into the molecular mechanisms of cell proliferation in juvenile human pancreatic islets, information that could lead to new treatments for diabetes.
By Jill Clendening
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