Science in Medicine Lecture with Karin Bornfeldt, PhD

“Diabetes-associated heart disease: Bridging the gap between basic and translational research”

Karin Bornfeldt, PhD
Edwin L. Bierman Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine
Professor, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
Director of the Diabetes Complications Program, UW Medicine Diabetes Institute
Director of the T32 Training Program in Nutrition, Obesity and Atherosclerosis

Thursday, February 1, 2024 at 1 pm
SLU Orin Smith Auditorium & Streamed on Zoom Webinar

Abstract

Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are both associated with an increased risk of atherosclerotic heart disease. Research based on human-first (also known as bedside-to-bench) approaches has provided new insights into likely mechanisms behind this increased risk. Although both forms of diabetes are associated with blood glucose fluctuations, it is becoming increasingly clear that altered lipoprotein metabolism plays a critical role in predicting cardiovascular disease risk in people with diabetes. This lecture will examine recent findings indicating that increased levels of remnant lipoproteins, rather than glucose, could be a missing link between diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The lecture will also touch on the speaker’s own scientific journey towards bridging the gap between basic and translational research in this area.

Biography

Karin Bornfeldt holds the Edwin L. Bierman Professorship in Medicine in the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition and is also Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. Her research is focused on cardiovascular complications associated with diabetes. Her group uses a combination of human translational studies and research on mechanistic mouse models. Dr. Bornfeldt received her PhD in Sweden and was a postdoc in the laboratory of Dr. Russell Ross at the UW. During this time, she interacted closely with Dr. Edwin Krebs, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1992, and worked with his group on signal transduction pathways in vascular cells. Dr. Bornfeldt serves as Director of the Diabetes Complications Program at the UW Medicine Diabetes Institute and as Deputy Director of the UW’s Diabetes Research Center. She is dedicated to training the next generation of scientists from diverse backgrounds. The majority of her trainees have gone on to research-intensive or research-related positions. She is a Fellow of the American Heart Association (AHA), Associate Editor of Circulation Research, Guest Editor of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (ATVB), and Associate Editor of the Journal of Lipid Research. Other honors include the Russell Ross Memorial Lectureship in Vascular Biology (AHA), the Edwin L. Bierman Lectureship (American Diabetes Association), the Journal of Lipid Research Lectureship award, the ATVB Special Recognition Award in Vascular Biology, the David Rubenstein Lectureship award, the George Lyman Duff Memorial Lectureship Award, the Archibald Byron Macallum Lectureship, and the Wendell Griffith Lectureship.