Dr. Daryl Granner, Professor Emeritus of Internal Medicine and of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics and member of the Obesity Research and Education Initiative has been awarded the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) 2017 Albert Renold Award for Mentorship and Diabetes Research. The Albert Renold Award is one of the ADA’s highest scientific awards given annually to an individual whose career is distinguished by outstanding achievements as a mentor of diabetes researchers and in the facilitation of diabetes research.
Dr. Granner exemplifies many of the characteristics of the inspirational leader and researcher for whom the award is named. In his nearly fifty-year career here at the University of Iowa and at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Granner has made tremendous strides both in advancing our understanding of the pathophysiology and treatment of diabetes as well as in preparing thousands of researchers to investigate this disease. Dr. Granner was the founding director of the first Diabetes and Endocrinology Research Center at this institution in 1979, the seeds of which he eventually nurtured into the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center (FOEDRC) in 2010. Dr. Granner served as Founding Director of the FOEDRC until 2013, when he was named Director Emeritus. Dr. Granner’s impact stretches beyond institutional borders, with long-time memberships in the American Society of Biological Chemists, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians. He has consulted for or served on the boards of more than a dozen academic diabetes research centers around the country. His academic output has been impressive; his 225 publications in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals have been highly cited, representing seminal and paradigm-shifting advances. His mentorship both here in Iowa and at Vanderbilt has spawned a generation of leaders in diabetes research and care. Dr. Granner’s mark on the course of diabetes research, particularly on the genetic regulation of hepatic glucose metabolism by insulin and glucocorticoids, established critical models for understanding the role of altered hepatic metabolism in insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
The ADA will present Dr. Granner this award at their 77th Scientific Sessions in San Diego, California, on June 12, 2017.