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“ They’ve beenawfully goodto me. Theykeep me alive,literally.”Dr. Harrison Wilson22 years living with diabetes“We think that the fat itself is making things thatare damaging the heart tissue,” Dr. Nadler explains.To test his theories, he’s collaborating with Sentarato harvest fat and blood cells that come from patientsundergoing weight-reduction surgeries.Norine Kuhn, a lab manager at the EVMSDiabetes Center, spends several days a week inSentara operating rooms obtaining and preservingthose samples.Dr. Nadler hopes to probe them to “prove ouridea that fat has some damaging substances topeople.” And by identifying those agents “preventheart disease and prevent diabetes that way.”Dr. Nadler has recruited a former University ofPennsylvania researcher, Yumi Imai, MD, assistantprofessor of internal medicine and an independentinvestigator with an NIH grant, to explore howobesity leads to the development of diabetes.“Everybody realizes the connection,” he says, butno one understands how it works. “Dr. Imai studiesthe cells that make insulin . . . to see what happenswhen you start to develop obesity.”When a patient becomes obese, those insulinsecretingcells, also known as beta cells or islets,begin to wither. By the time the typical adult isdiagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, more than half aregone, Dr. Nadler says. “They die, and they continueto die.”Revving up ResearchDr. Nadler’s reputation already has helpedEVMS attract top clinical scientists, Pepe says. Dr.Pepe hopes it will lead to additional key recruits soEVMS can be added to the National Institutes ofHealth’s 17 designated diabetes research centers.“The research is what is going to distinguish us,”Dr. Pepe says. “That’s what really is going to changeus. It’s so critical.”Among Dr. Nadler’s recruits to EVMS are: ElenaGalkina, PhD, to the Department of Microbiologyand Molecular Cell Biology, where she is researchingthe link between diabetes and heart problems;Joseph Aloi, MD, who is the new clinical directorof the Diabetes Center; and David Lieb, MD, whocompleted his endocrinology fellowship at U.Va. thissummer and is doing research on hypertension anddiabetes.Dr. Nadler is in the process of attracting othermajor physician-scientists to EVMS.24 www.eVMS.EDUdiabetes research
One of the most exciting areas of researchat the center now piggybacks on work doneby Dr. Vinik, David Taylor-Fishwick, PhD,and Gary Pittenger, PhD.Dr. Vinik’s team has long led EVMS’efforts to cure diabetes, having discovereda gene known as INGAP (Islet NeogenesisAssociated Protein) that can reawaken apancreatic cell’s potential to produce insulin.But if the immune system still considersthose cells invaders, it will just kill them too,leaving insulin injections as the only option.Betty Osby was nine years old whenshe learned she had Type I diabetes. Shelearned to inject herself by practicingAfter half a centuryof “feeling like a pincushion” Betty Osby longsfor a chance to throwaway her needles. Dr.Nadler hopes to makethat happen by pairinghis genetic work with Dr.Vinik’s INGAP therapy.on oranges. She’s been controlling hercondition with insulin injections for 52years now. About five years ago, despitedose increases, the insulin was no longerdoing the job. She was passing out. Herprimary care physician sent her to theEVMS Strelitz Diabetes Center, wheredoctors eventually convinced her sheneeded another daily medicine shot toaugment her insulin treatments.“I felt like a pin cushion and didn’t wantto go with any more injections,” she says.But they persuaded her and she says she is“up and running, hopping and hollering.”After half a century of injections, Ms.Osby longs for a chance to throw away herneedles. Dr. Nadler hopes to one day makeher dream come true. He wants to pair hisJerry Nadler, MD, right, has been a mentor to Joseph Aloi, MD, since the two workedtogether at the University of Virginia. Dr. Aloi is among several physicians andscientists Dr. Nadler has recruited to the EVMS Strelitz Diabetes Center.Betty Osby52 years living with diabetesAaron Vinik, MD, PhD, left, and David Taylor-Fishwick, PhD, are part of the research team that isconstantly working to develop better treatments for diabetes and the disease’s many complications.diabetes research www.eVMS.EDU Fall 2009 25
Page 7: Scientists awarded nearly half a mi
Page 10 and 11: First-year medical students Rachel
Page 12 and 13: Name change reflectsart therapist
Page 14 and 15: Clinical TrialsGillian Durham first
Page 16 and 17: But what exactly are clinical trial
Page 18 and 19: e so generous that money alone beco
Page 20 and 21: Turning theTide onDiabetes research
Page 22 and 23: “ Those of us who are fortunate e
Page 26 and 27: Since opening in 1987, the Strelitz
Page 28: Claudia Keenan Hough,EVMS’ first
Page 31 and 32: She rose to marketing director for
Page 33 and 34: alumniDan Neumann, MD, Left,Class o
Page 35 and 36: Graduate named toleadership post at
Page 37 and 38: philanthropyCosmopolitan Internatio
Page 39 and 40: Faculty and staffinvest in EVMScont

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