Diabetes Metabolic Research Conference

• A lecture series in the style of Grand Rounds
• Held at noon on the first and third Mondays of each calendar month during the academic year*
• Presenters include invited guests from outside OU
• Click here to view previous lectures

2025-2026 Upcoming Speakers

• September 22 – Kevin R. Short, PhD, FACSM, University of Oklahoma Health │HHDC Grants Program Overview
• October 6 – Huxing Cui, PhD, University of Oklahoma Health │TBD
• November 3 – Laura Cox, PhD, Wake Forest │TBD
• December 1 – Samuel Stephens, PhD, University of Iowa │TBD
• February 2 – Alexander S. Banks, PhD, Harvard Medical School │TBD
• March 2 – Saswata Talukdar, PhD, Merck │TBD
• March 16 – Aaron M. Cypess, MD, PhD, MMSc, National Institutes of Health │TBD
• April 6 – Nicolas Musi, MD Cedars-Sinai Medical Center │TBD
• April 20 – Jeffrey Browning, MD, UT Southwestern │TBD
• May 4 – Kavaljit Chhabra, PhD, MPharm, Kentucky College of Medicine │TBD
• May 18 – Danielle Dean, PhD, Vanderbilt University │TBD

2025 Past Speakers

• February 3 – Daniel R. Tilden, MD, MPH, University of Kansas │Diabetes Care Access for Young Adults Living in Rural Areas
• February 17 – Rebecca A. Simmons, MD, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania │Message and Messenger: Extracellular Vesicle Trafficking to the Embryo
• March 3 – Hala Chaaban, MD, University of Oklahoma Health; Nancy Krebs, MD, University of Colorado Anschutz; Jasha Lyons Echo-Hawk, Indigenous Milk Medicine Collective and Four Sisters Birth and Health Sovereignty; and Rebecca Mannel, MPH, IBCLC, FILCA, University of Oklahoma Health │Nourish to Flourish: A Panel Discussion on Postnatal Feeding
• March 17 – Paula Chandler-Laney, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham │Metabolic Phenotypes of Children Born to Women with Obesity versus Obesity & Gestational Diabetes
• April 7 – Weiqin Chen, PhD, Augusta University │Novel Regulators in Adipose Tissue Development and Liver Diseases
• May 19 – Kelli A. Lytle, PhD, RD, Mayo Clinic │Molecular and systemic circadian regulation of human adipose tissue metabolism

2024 Past Speakers

• January 31 - Katherine Ann Sauder, PhD, Wake Forest University and Melanie Aspaas, BPH, Colorado School of Public Health, Anschutz │Health Coaching for Moms and Kids: Addressing Intergenerational Diabetes Risk Factors
• February 5 – Michael Thompson, MD, PhD, Washington University │Maternal diet and exercise in developmental programing of liver disease
• February 19 – Paul M. Coen, PhD, Johns Hopkins University │Aging, Type 2 Diabetes and Loss of Mobility: A Rising Healthcare Challenge
• March 4 – Carlos Manlio Díaz-García, PhD, University of Oklahoma Health │Coupling between neuronal activity and energy metabolism. A tale of ion fluxes and metabolic fuels.
• April 2 – Teri L. Hernandez, PhD, RN, FAAN, University of Colorado Anschutz │In Defense of Carbs: Challenging the Low Carbohydrate Diet for Gestational Diabetes
• April 15 - John Thyfault, Ph.D., FACSM, FTOS, University of Kansas | Hepatic metabolism: the center of metabolic protection associated with exercise and fitness
• April 17 – Partha Dutta, DVM, PhD, FAHA, University of Pittsburgh │The role of macrophages in cardiometabolic disease
• May 6 - Wen-xing Ding, Ph.D., University of Kansas | Mitochondrial dynamics and mtDNAmediated innate immune response in alcohol-associated liver disease and tumorigenesis
• May 13 – Prof. Andrew Murphy, Baker Heart & Disease Institute, Melbourne, AU │Salty CHIPs: Dietary and Genetic Pathways of Altered Hematopoiesis and the Influence on Heart Disease
• May 20 - Sarah Borengasser, Ph.D., M.S., University of Oklahoma | A Tale of Two Maternal Obesities Chapter 1: Epigenetics
• September 9 – Willa Hseuh, M.D., The Ohio State University | The Origins of Adipose Tissue Inflammation
• September 30 – Robert A. Waterland, Ph.D., Baylor | A new era for epigenetic epidemiology of metabolic disease
• October 7 – Camila Manrique Acevedo, MD, University of Missouri │Vascular Insulin Re-Sensitization, Endothelial Glycocalyx Restoration, and Arterial De-Stiffening as Strategies to Lower CVD Risk
• October 9 – Ling Yang, PhD, University of Iowa │Shaping Immuno-metabolic Homeostasis by Organelle Stress Response
• November 4 – Roberta Leonardi, Ph.D., West Virginia University | What Goes Up Must Come Down: Regulation of Coenzyme A by Degradation
• November 18 – Matt Robinson, Ph.D., Oregon State University | Do SGLT2 inhibitors have off target actions on skeletal muscle metabolism?
• December 2 – Olivier Thibault, Ph.D., University of Kentucky | From insulin sensitizers to insulin: a neuroscience perspective with a metabolism twist

2023 Past Lectures

• February6 – David Jelley, M.D., University of Oklahoma, Tulsa | The Bionic Pancreas – past, present and future
• February20 – Hongxia Ren, Ph.D., Indiana University | Physiological and Molecular Underpinning of Metabolism, Diet and Ageing
• March 20 – Arlan Richardson, Ph.D., University of Oklahoma and OKC VA Medical Center | OKC-HET B/W Rat: A Novel Genetically Heterogenous Animal Model with Divergent Mitochondrial Genomes
• April 3 – Kristin Stanford, Ph.D., The Ohio State University | New Mechanisms for Maternal Exercise to Regulate Offspring Health
• April 17 – Clair Crewe, Ph.D., Washington University | Interorgan Transport of Mitochondria from Energetically Stressed Adipocytes
• May 1 – Marisol Castillo-Castrejon, Ph.D., University of Oklahoma | β​-Cells: A Potential Role in Obesity and Diabetes Risk after Menopause

• May 1 – Ramasamy Selvarani, University of Oklahoma | The Role of Necroptosis in Chronic Inflammation in Aging and Age-Related Diseases

• June 5 – Miriam Vos, M.D., MSPH, Emory University | Impact and Burden of Dietary Sugars on the Liver

• October 2 – Prabhakara Nagareddy, M. Pharm, Ph.D., FAHA, University of Oklahoma | Neutrophils During Myocardial Infarction: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

• October 16 – Yanqiao Zhang, M.D., FAHA, Northeast Ohio Medical University | Role of Activating Transcription Factor 3 in Metabolic Diseases

• November 6 – Dominick J. Lemas, Ph.D., University of Florida | Breastfeeding and Infant Nutrition in the Era of Precision Health

• November 20 – James G. Granneman, Ph.D., Wayne State University | Lipolysis regulation in the light of co-evolution

• December 4 – Charlie Rioux, Ph.D., University of Oklahoma | Developmental models of person-environment interactions: Studies of mental health and implications for metabolic health

2022 Past Lectures

• October 3 – Alyssa Hasty, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University | Persistence of Adipose Tissue Immune Cell Phenotypes in Weight Loss and Regain

• October 17 – Nicola Santoro, M.D., Ph.D., University of Kansas Medical Center | Fatty Liver Disease and Obesity in Youth: A Clinical/Translational Research Approach

• November 7 – Shaoning Jiang, Ph.D., University of Oklahoma College of Medicine | Role of Macrophage miR-130b/301b in Beige Adipogenesis and Adipose Tissue Inflammation in Obesity

• November 21 – Susan Sisson, Ph.D., RDN, CHES, FACSM, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center | Nutrition a Physical Activity in Early Childhood

• December 5 – Hongmin Ni, M.D., University of Kansas Medical Center | The Role of Vacuole Membrane Protein 1 (VMP1) in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Tumorigenesis

Past Presenters

Ann-Louise Olson, Ph.D., Edith Kinney Gaylord Foundation Presidential Professor; Vice Chair, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, OU Health Sciences Center
C. Ronald Kahn, M.D., Chief Academic Officer and Senior Investigator, Joslin Diabetes Center; Mary K.Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Valarie Blue Bird Jernigan, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., Public Health & Health Promotion, OU Health Sciences Center
Elvira Isganaitis, M.D., M.P.H., Pediatrics/Endocrinology, Harvard Medical School
Cecil Lewis, Ph.D., Anthropology, OU-Norman
Véronique A. Lacombe, D.V.M., Ph.D., Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, OSU-Stillwater
Dharambir Sanghera, Ph.D., Pediatrics/Genetics, OU Health Sciences Center
Steven D. Chernausek, M.D., CMRI Edith Kinney Gaylord Chair; Professor of Pediatrics, OU Health Sciences Center
Kevin Short, M.D., CMRI Choctaw Nation Chair; Associate Professor of Pediatrics, OU Health Sciences Center
Kenneth Humphries, Ph.D., Assistant Member, Aging & Metabolism Research Program, OMRF
Will Holland, Ph.D., Internal Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Robert Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., Ophthalmology & Cell Biology, Dean McGee Eye Institute
Christina Scifres, M.D., Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Dept. of Obstetrics & Gynecology, OU Health Sciences Center
Michael Businelle, Ph.D, Health Promotion Research Center
Susan Sisson, Ph.D., R.D.N., C.H.E.S., F.A.C.S.M., Dept. of Nutritional Sciences, OU Health Sciences Center
Darren Lee, Ph.D., Dept. of Ophthalmology, OU Health Sciences Center
Yusuke Takahashi, Ph.D.,Dept. of Internal Medicine, OU Health Sciences Center
Steven D. Chernausek, M.D.,CMRI Edith Kinney Gaylord Chair; Department of Pediatrics, OU Health Sciences Center
Peter Butler, M.D., Dept. of Medicine,Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Hypertension, UCLA
Patrick Catalano, M.D., Vice Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Research, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tufts
Weidong Wang, Ph.D., Dept. of Internal Medicine, OU Health Sciences Center
Bobby Saunkeah, R.N. & Michael Peercy, M.P.H., Chickasaw Nation Department of Health
Leanne Redman, Ph.D.,Professor, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University
Peter Arvan, M.D., Ph.D., Chief, Dept. of Metabolism, Endocriniology& Diabetes,University of Michigan
Fida Bacha, M.D., F.A.A.P., Associate Professor, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor
Malcolm Low, M.D., Ph.D., University of Michigan
Susan Ozanne, Ph.D., University of Cambridge
Hariom Yadav, Ph.D., Wake Forest School of Medicine
Melanie Cree-Green, M.D., Ph.D., University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Campus
Kent Thornburg, Ph.D., Oregon Health and Science University
Franck Mauvais-Jarvis, M.D., Ph.D., Tulane University
Elizabeth Parks, Ph.D., University of Missouri
Shawn Burgess, Ph.D., University of Texas Southwestern
Katie Page, M.D., USC Keck School of Medicine
Xia "Shelley" Lei, M.D., Ph.D., Oklahoma State University

Watch for more dates to be added soon!
If you are interested in presenting or can suggest a visiting presenter for this conference, please email Lark-zink@ouhsc.edu.

The 2022-2023 Conference Committee consists of Dr. Jed Friedman, Dr. Tiangang Li, Dr. David Fields, Dr. Karen Jonscher and Dr. Ann Olson.

No cost to attend. For more information or for accommodations on the basis of disability, call 405-271-2824.

*except where noted