Dr. Yumi Imai, Associate Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism, has recently learned that her NIH R01 grant with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has been renewed. This $1,036,608 grant will continue to fuel Dr. Imai’s research into the role of the lipid droplet protein in obesity and diabetes. Unregulated accumulation of lipids contributes to beta cell demise in type 2 diabetes. But by better understanding how intracellular trafficking of lipids are regulated temporally and spatially, Dr. Imai and researchers in her lab hope to identify a novel target to both enhance insulin secretion and better protect beta cells under diabetogenic stress.

Dr. Imai has also been awarded a $345,000 grant from the American Diabetes Association, one of the ADA’s 2017 Innovative Basic Science Awards. These funds will also be used to better understand how the lipid droplet proteins regulate insulin secretion.

Congratulations, Dr. Imai!