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.

Antoinette F. Hood, M.D.

The Board of Visitors voted unanimously Dec. 10 to establish the new department. Previously, dermatology was a division within the Department of Internal Medicine.

Leon-Paul Georges, M.D., professor and chairman of internal medicine, suggested the change.

"While we have invested substantially in our Dermatology Division, we believe that the creation of a Dermatology Department will further enhance the educational, research and patient care programs of the school," Georges said.

Hood, a resident of Norfolk, also holds a joint appointment in the EVMS Department of Pathology and Anatomy. Board certified in dermatology and in dermatopathology, she received her undergraduate degree from Stanford University and her medical degree from Vanderbilt University Medical School. She interned in the department of medicine at Vanderbilt and completed a clinical and research fellowship in dermatology at Harvard Medical School. She also undertook a clinical fellowship in dermatopathology at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Hood is the author of more than 120 peer-reviewed articles and is the co-author of four books. She has held leadership positions in several national medical organizations including the American Academy of Dermatology (Board of Directors; vice president), the American Society of Dermatopathology (secretary-treasurer; president), and the American Board of Dermatology (Board of Directors; present executive director).

Her academic interests include dermatopathology, the cutaneous complications of chemotherapy and immunosuppression, drug reactions, and medical education.

She came to EVMS in 2001 with her husband, EVMS Dean and Provost Evan R. Farmer, M.D. Most recently Hood was affiliated with the Indiana University School of Medicine, where she was a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and dermatology and director of the dermatopathology unit. She also served as assistant dean at Indiana for five years.

Hood previously was on faculty at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for 13 years. At the time of her departure, she was a professor of dermatology and pathology. For two years, she was the assistant dean for admissions at Johns Hopkins University.