Pilot and Feasibility Program

Pilot and Feasibility awardees

• 2023

  Heba Ismail, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine
  "The gut microbiome in children with type 1 diabetes with obesity and novel mechanism of action of metformin"

  Danielle Janosevic, DO, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, IU School of Medicine
  "Kidney sphingolipid composition in diabetic mice predispose to sepsis-associated acute kidney injury"

  Hyeong-Geug Kim, PhD, Assistant Research Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, IU School of Medicine
  "Protective effects of hepatocyte ATG14 against inflammasome driven pyroposis"

  Yukiko Kitase, DDS, PhD, Assistant Research Professor of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology, IU School of Medicine
  "The impact of high-fat diet on osteocyte energy metabolism and function"

  Yao-Ying Ma, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, IU School of Medicine
  "Exploitation of neural strategies to regulate motivation for diabetes self-management"

  Jason Spaeth, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine
  "Chd4 controls endocrine progenitor cell fate in vivo"

  Jay Vornhagen, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, IU School of Medicine
  "Assessing the role of type 2 diabetes in klebsiella pneumoniae pathogenesis"

• 2022
  Edward Greenfield, PhD, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, IU School of Medicine
  "Diabetes/Metabolic syndrome impairs outcomes of orthopaedic implant ifection in mice"

  Heba Ismail, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine
  "The gut microbiome in children with type 1 diabetes with obesity and novel mechanism of action of metformin" 

  Michael Kalwat, PhD, Assistant Investigator, Indiana Biosciences Institute
  "Chemical approaches to investigate beta cell function and stress adaptation" 

  Jing Liu, PhD, Assistant Professor of Physics, IUPUI
  "Developing image based spatial transcriptomics to understand ß cell phenotypes in type 1 diabetes" 

  Jessica Maiers, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, IU School of Medicine
  "Investigating the role of the immunoproteasome in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis"

  Nian Wang, PhD, Assistant Professor of Radiology & Imaging Sciences, IU School of Medicine
  "Whole brain connectivity alterations in metabolic syndrome swine using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging"

• 2021
  Scott Canfield, PhD, Assistant Professor of Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine
  "Hyperglycemia-Induced BBB Dysfunction in Alzheimer's Disease"

  Chad Carroll, PhD, Assistant Professor of Health & Kinesiology,  Purdue University
  "Mechanisms Underlying Poor Tendon Healing with Diabetes"

  Gregory Henderson, PhD, Assistant Professor or Nutrition Science, Purdue University
  "Targeting plasma free fatty acids through a novel approach as a potential intervention for insulin resistance"

  Andrew Templin, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine
  "Susceptibility of primary islet beta cells to RIPK3-mediated necroptosis"

  I-Chen Yu, PhD, Assistant Research Professor of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine
  "Deciphering the molecular crosstalk of obesity-related cerebrovascular dysfunction in vascular cognitive impairment and dementia"

  Li Zhang, MD, PhD, Assistant Investigator, Indiana Biosciences Research Institute
  "Suppression of antigen-specific monoclonal antibodies in humanized spontaneous Type 1 diabetes mice"

• 2020
  Jonathan Flak, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, IU School of Medicine
  Assistant Investigator, Indiana Biosciences Research Institute Diabetes Center 
  "Identifying the downstream targets from the VMN in blood glucose control."

  Kok Lim Kua, MD, assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine
  "Reg3g as a drug-sensitive target mediating islet dysfunction in offspring of obese mothers" 

  Hyun Cheol Roh, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, IU School of Medicine
  "Epigenetic mechanisms of adipocyte cellular identity control during obesity"

  Uma Sankar, PhD, associate professor, Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology, IU School of Medicine
  "Harnessing bone-mediated regulation of diabetes"

  Jason Spaeth, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine
  "Dynamic regulations of Pdx1 activity and beta cell function and identity through the Snd1 coregulator"

  Core Awardee
  Jungsu Kim, PhD, professor, Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, IU School of Medicine

• 2019
  Jamie Felton, MD, assistant research professor of pediatrics, IU School of Medicine
  “Hypoxia-Induced Metabolic Reprogramming in Islet-Infiltrating B Cells”

  Nana Gletsu Miller, PhD, associate professor, Purdue University
  “Reducing Sugar Intake By Substituting Sparkling Water in Adolescents at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes “

  Wenting Wu, PhD, assistant research professor of medical and molecular genetics, IU School of Medicine
  “Single Cell Transcriptomic Analysis of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in Individuals with Recent Onset Type 1 Diabetes”

  Ashay Bhatwadekar, PhD, assistant professor of ophthalmology, IU School of Medicine
  “Sodium-Glucose Transporter-2 Inhibition in Diabetic Retinopathy”

• 2018
  Juhua Luo, MS, PhD, associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, IU Bloomington
  “Lifestyle and Psychosocial Patterns and Diabetes Incidence “

   Zhiyong Tan, PhD, assistant research professor of pharmacology and toxicology, IU School of Medicine

  “Resurgent Currents in Neuropathic Pain Associated with Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy”

  Baohua Zhou, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics, IU School of Medicine
  “FOXP3 Isoforms and Pathogenesis of Type I Diabetes”

  Bart Pederson, PhD, adjunct assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, IU School of Medicine
  “Does Brain Glycogen Play a Role in Type 3 Diabetes?”

• 2017
  Guoli Dai, PhD, adjunct associate professor, IU School of Medicine
  “Placenta-Maternal Liver Axis Modulating Maternal Liver Glucose Production during Pregnancy”

   Ashay Bhatwadekar, PhD, assistant professor of ophthalmology, IU School of Medicine

  “Modulating Circadian Rhythms to Correct Müller Cell Dysfunction in Diabetic Retinopathy”

  David Boone, PhD, associate professor of microbiology & immunology, IU School of Medicine
  “A New Role for the Stomach in Control of Obesity”

  Dipika Gupta, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, IU School of Medicine
  “Role of Innate Immunity in Obesity and Metabolic Disease”

  Hongxia Ren, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, IU School of Medicine
  “Metabolic Function of Gpr17 in GI Tract”

• 2016
  Brady Atwood, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry, IU School of Medicine
  “The impact of high fat, high sugar diet on the dorsal striatum: neuronal behavioral consequences”

   Nicolas Berbari, PhD, assistant professor of biology, IUPUI

  “Conditional loss of Rpgrip1I in hyperphagia and obesity”

  Joseph Bidwell, PhD, professor of anatomy and cell biology, IU School of Medicine
  “Nmp4 is a novel regulator of beta cell mass and function”

  Amelia Linnemann, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, IU School of Medicine
  “Dysregulation of islet IL-6 signaling in Type 2 diabetes”

  Jacqueline Linnes, PhD, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, Purdue
  “Portable, non-invasive monitor that detects glucose from exhaled breath condensates”

  Hongxia Ren, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, IU School of Medicine
  “Investigate the peripheral metabolic function of Gpr17”

• 2015
  Gregory Anderson, PhD, associate professor of biology, IUPUI
  “Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Infection in Chronic Diabetic Wounds”

   Tao Lu, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology, IU School of Medicine

  “Role or lysine demethylase FBXL11 in Type 2 diabetes”

  Emily K. Sims, MD, assistant professor of pediatric endocrinology and diabetology, IU School of Medicine
  “Circulating Extracellular Vesicle miRNAs as a biomarker of Type 1 Diabetes Development”

  Sherry L. Voytik-Harbin, PhD, associate professor of biomedical engineering and basic medical science, Purdue
  “Engineering and Islet Bioinstructive Microenvironment for Improved Survival, Function, Protection and Delivery”

• 2014
  A.J. Baucum, II, PhD, assistant professor of biology, IUPUI
  “The role of spinophilin signaling in pancreatic cell function”

  Jie Sun, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, and microbiology and immunology, IU School of Medicine
  “Obesity and Enhanced Host Susceptibility to Influenza Infection”

  Wanqing Liu, PhD, assistant professor of medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology, Purdue
  “Role of FADS1 in human hepatic fat accumulation and treatment”

• 2012
  Chien-Chi Lin, PhD, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, IUPUI
  “Biomimetic Hydrogel Coating for Enhancing Immuno-isolation of Pancreatic Islet Cells”