Sheps King-McAlpin, a graduate student in Dr. Matthew Potthoff’s laboratory in the Molecular Medicine Program and Department of Pharmacology, has been awarded an NIH R01 Minority Supplement for his project entitled, “Exploring the Mechanism of FGF21’s Acute Insulin Sensitization.”  The main objective of his project is to determine how the endocrine hormone FGF21 acts in brown adipose tissue to increase insulin sensitivity.  Sheps’ studies will utilize unique genetic models and proteomic techniques to elucidate the signaling pathway activated by FGF21 to increase insulin-dependent glucose uptake.