NORFOLK, VA — EVMS scientists studying fat cells have demonstrated what may be a vital step in the progression of diabetes and heart disease, a discovery that could lead to the development of ground-breaking new treatments.

Jerry Nadler, MD, director of the EVMS Strelitz Diabetes Center and a nationally known expert in the cardiovascular effects of diabetes, says scientists have suspected that certain fats formed by an enzyme called 12-Lipoxygenase can trigger inflammation in fat cells.

“This process can then lead to the changes that cause diabetes and potentially heart disease,” says Dr. Nadler, who worked in collaboration with Swarup K. Chakrabarti, PhD, a research assistant professor of internal medicine, and postdoctoral fellow Banumathi K. Cole, PhD.

Their research, reported in the June 11, 2009 issue of Obesity, is the first to prove this link. If this “pathway” proves to be important to the development of disease, it will provide scientists with important insight and, perhaps, a new target for treatment.

“This could form the basis of developing new treatments to prevent diabetes and related heart disease complications of diabetes and obesity,” Dr. Nadler says.

The research was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

View a copy of the resarch abstract.

NORFOLK, VA — Paul Farmer, MD, PhD, a Harvard physician who has won international acclaim for his efforts to bring health care to the poorest countries in the world, will give the commencement address at Eastern Virginia Medical School May 16.