Four Taubman Scholars to share in $3.5 million diabetes grant

Kidney damage, loss of vision and mobility-limiting nerve damage are among the most dreaded side effects of diabetes, an illness affecting nearly 26 million adults and children in the United States.

And in recognition of their standing in the quest for treatments and their expertise which spans the categories of major side effects, Taubman Institute director Dr. Eva Feldman and three other Taubman Scholars are among the U-M researchers to share in a $3.5 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to study the complications of diabetes.

Dr. Feldman is interested in understanding why nerves are prone to damage in diabetes.  In order answer this question, her laboratory is using state-of-the-art technology developed at the Michigan Metabolomics and Obesity Center to identify small molecules called metabolites in nerve tissue samples from diabetic mouse models.  The presence of these metabolites in plasma and urine from diabetic patients will also be studied.  Understanding the specific changes in metabolites that are involved in damage to nerves in diabetes will allow Dr. Feldman and her team to design much-needed treatments to prevent these complications.

Other Taubman Scholars sharing in the grant are:

• Frank C. Brosius III, M.D., Professor of Internal Medicine and of Molecular and Integrative Physiology; Chief, Division of Nephrology
• Charles Burant, M.D., Ph.D., Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Professor of Metabolism; Professor of Internal Medicine, and Molecular and of Integrative Physiology; Director, U-M Metabolomics and Obesity Center
• Thomas W. Gardner, M.D., M.S., Professor, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences; Professor, Molecular & Integrative Physiology; Director, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Diabetic Retinopathy Center

Along with Dr. Subramaniam Pennathur, a U-M assistant professor of internal medicine, the Taubman Scholars will lead a team of investigators in studying a new approach – tissue specific metabolic reprogramming – that they hope will lead to a better understand of how damage occurs and how to treat or prevent it.