Kraegen
High levels of fat, in particular abdominal fat, are one of the greatest risk factors in the development of type 2 diabetes. Our major focus is to understand factors that control fat accumulation in muscle and to use this information to devise strategies to reduce it. When fat enters a muscle cell from blood there are two choices. It is either stored as an intracellular lipid or it is channelled into the mitochondria, where it is burned for energy. Much of our research is converging on an enzyme that seems to control the choice made by fat once it enters the muscle cell: whether it is used or stored. We have partnerships with a number of pharmaceutical companies to examine drugs that activate this enzyme and which could reduce fat accumulation. We are also delving into traditional Chinese medicines with our collaborators in Shanghai to identify new insulin-sensitising agents that could be more useful than current therapeutics.
Staff
 Research OfficerDr Amanda Brandon |
 Senior Research OfficerDr Jiming Ye |
 Research AssistantDonna Wilks |
 Research AssistantJennifer Tid-ang |
 Research OfficerDr Michael Boden |
 Visiting ScientistDr Miguel Iglesias |
Collaborations
Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences
