CLINICAL UPDATES AND ADVANCES

Video | Genetic Research Findings of PCOS with Margrit Urbanek, PhD
Recent advances in studying the micro-basis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have relied heavily on genetics. A geneticist by trade, Margrit Urbanek, PhD, researches how genes impact phenotypes like PCOS. 
Podcast | Recommendations for Managing Gestational Diabetes
Gestational diabetes affects anywhere from 6% to 25% of pregnant women. In this episode of the Better Edge podcast, Emily D. Szmuilowicz, MD, discusses recommendations for managing gestational diabetes (GDM) and all types of diabetes during pregnancy. 
Video | Diabetes Requires a Village: Northwestern Medicine's Diabetes Tune-Up Pathway Program
The Diabetes Tune-up Pathway is a population-health team-based approach developed by Grazia Aleppo, MD. It is a program designed to support patient self-management and to improve glycemic control for patients with high-risk diabetes. In this video, Dr. Aleppo explains how the Diabetes Tune-Up Pathway Program helps patients reach A1C levels of 7% of lower.
New Function for Glucose Metabolism Enzyme
​​The function of the glycolytic enzyme hexokinase 1 differs depending on its location within the cell, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published in Molecular Cell. The enzyme uses different pathways to regulate glucose processing or immune response, determined by whether it’s bound to mitochondria or in the cytoplasm.
Glucocorticoids Enhance Muscles through Sex-Specific Pathways
​​Glucocorticoid steroids improved muscle performance through distinct, sex-specific molecular mechanisms in mice, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI).

Research news and discoveries

Podcast | Study Honored by Clinical Research Forum: Nutrition and Weight Management With Semaglutide
Robert Kushner, MD and his collaborators found a new anti-obesity medication was almost twice as effective at helping individuals lose weight than many of the current weight-loss drugs on the market, according to findings published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Podcast | Energy State to Transcription During Time-Restricted Feeding
In this episode of Better Edge​, Joseph Bass, MD, Ph.D. discusses the focus of his research on circadian rhythms and metabolic homeostasis. The study discussed was published in Nature Metabolism and in the 2022 21st Issue of Science and is highlighted in the 2022 SciPak.
Podcast | Stepwise Approach to Continuous Glucose Monitoring Interpretation for Internists and Family Physicians
In this episode of the Better Edge podcast, Grazia Aleppo, MD, and Emily D. Szmuilowicz, MD, discuss their recent research published in Postgraduate Medicine. Their research proposes a new treatment regimen for pregnancy-induced insulin resistance that is guided by continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). This aims to give internists and family medicine physicians a simplified and consistent approach to CGM interpretation that can be easily implemented in a brief office visit. 
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P2Y1 Purinergic Receptor Identified as a Diabetes Target in a Small-Molecule Screen to Reverse Circadian β-cell Failure
Researchers developed a genetically sensitized small-molecule screen to identify druggable proteins and mechanistic pathways involved in circadian β-cell failure.
​Research Begins to Explain Why Time of Day Affects Efficacy of Interventions such as Exercise in Type 2 Diabetes
​Disruption of circadian rhythm by shift work, rotating work schedules, jet lag, disease, and other causes has long been recognized as contributing to obesity and other metabolic dysfunctions. Research is beginning to unravel the genetic, environmental, and epigenetic mechanisms by which body clocks in the brain, liver, muscle, and adipose tissue act and interact to regulate or dysregulate metabolism.

AWARDS, HONORS AND RECOGNITIONS

Congratulations to Northwestern Medicine Endocrinology faculty members recognized with honors and awards for academic and research excellence in 2022.
Joseph Bass, MD, Received a 2023 Laureate Award from the Endocrine Society
Laureate Awards recognize endocrinologists for seminal research, meritorious service, leadership and mentorship, innovation, international contributions, public service, translation of science to practice, and lifetime achievement. ​Joseph Bass, MD, PhD, was awarded the Roy O. Greep Award for Outstanding Research. This annual award recognizes meritorious contributions to research in endocrinology. 
Grant Barish, MD, Elected to ASCI
Barish studies the genetic and biological basis of metabolism and inflammation, especially in the context of transcriptional regulators and their downstream effects on conditions such as obesity. In a study published in eLife, Barish and collaborators identified a new function for a transcriptional repressor called BCL6, finding that it switches off genes involved in lipid metabolism.
Northwestern Study Honored by Clinical Research Forum
Robert Kushner, MD, was honored by the Clinical Research Forum with a 2022 Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Award. “I am honored to be recognized by the Clinical Research Forum for our seminal study published in The New England Journal of Medicine,” said Kushner. “The award is a tribute to the outstanding study team and the impact of semaglutide in the treatment of people living with obesity.”

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