Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center
Facilitating the discovery, application, and translation of scientific knowledge to improve the lives of people with diabetes
News
Endocrine Society selects Rafael Arrojo e Drigo among its 2027 Laureate Award winners
Rafael Arrojo e Drigo, PhD, of Vanderbilt University, received the Richard E. Weitzman…
Protein clues in the blood may help children avoid diseases later in life
Study identifies early signs of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease in children that…
Researchers identify new therapeutic target for salt-sensitive hypertension
The Vanderbilt Health team, including members of the Kirabo Lab, discovered that a signaling…
Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients are focus of GLP-1 therapy for obesity study
Jaclyn Tamaroff, MD, MSCI, and Jonathan Soslow, MD, MSCI, are co-leading a study evaluating the…
Registration now open for Diabetes Day 2026
Diabetes Day 2026 will take place at Vanderbilt on Tuesday, Nov. 10.…
Human islet function, diabetes risk defined by heterogeneous endocrine cell composition
Multisite consortium analyzed human pancreatic islet cells from nondiabetic organ donors in…
About Us
The Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center (DRTC) is an NIH-sponsored Diabetes Research Center that promotes new discoveries and enhances scientific progress through cutting-edge basic and clinical research related to the etiology and complications of diabetes and obesity.
For over 50 years, the DRTC has worked to rapidly translate research findings into novel strategies for the prevention, treatment and cure of diabetes and related conditions.
The DRTC supports core facilities that enhance diabetes-related research and organizes an enrichment program of seminars and small groups that create a dynamic environment for the training of the next generation of scientists. We invite you to collaborate with us as we work to reduce the burden of diabetes.
The Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center is supported by NIH grant DK020593.
Please acknowledge this in your publications.
Recent Publications
Paediatric proteomic signatures of cardiometabolic disease-associated traits predict adult disease outcomes.
Joshua M Landman, Heather M Highland, Andrew S Perry, et. al.
Nat Metab. 2026
Diabetes-associated MYT1 and ST18 genes regulate human beta cell insulin secretion and survival
Ruiying Hu, Nala Hamilton, Yu Wang, et. al.
Diabetologia. 2026
Dual Modulation of Prostaglandin E2 Receptors EP3 and EP4 Protects β-Cell Mass in a Model of Aggressive Autoimmune Inflammation
Juliann B Burkett, Jennifer Fuhr, Alexander C Falk, et al.
Diabetes. 2026
Pancreatic islet α cell function and proliferation require the arginine transporter SLC7A2
Erick Spears, Jade E Stanley, Matthew Shou, et al.
J Clin Invest. 2026
Disrupted glucocorticoid rhythms selectively induce severe skeletal muscle insulin resistance and uncouple obesity from hepatic steatosis
Agnieszka Agas, Sanjeev Sharma, Anthony Narciso, et al.
Cell Rep. 2026
Heterogeneous endocrine cell composition defines human islet functional phenotypes
Carmella Evans-Molina, Yasminye D Pettway, Diane C Saunders, et al.
Nat Commun. 2026
Events, Seminars, & Presentations
Friday Seminar Series
The Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center hosts a weekly seminar series featuring DRTC faculty and guest speakers, every Friday at 12 p.m. central time in 512 Light Hall on the VUMC campus.
Interest Group Seminars
The Metabolism Interest Group (MIG) and the Beta-Cell Interest Group (BIG) each host regular seminars on relevant topics.
Virtual Seminar Series
Join us virtually each second Wednesday of the month for the national DRC Virtual Seminar series and hear from researchers representing diabetes center across the country.
Our Values
At the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center, we subscribe to the following principles:
- Science is real. Discovery and application of new knowledge is the path to improve the lives of people with diabetes.
- Training the next generation of scientists is fundamental to what we do. The DRTC enhances training programs for graduate students, medical students, and postdoctoral fellows.
- Science needs collaboration across disciplines and institutions. More than half of the scientific publications by DRTC investigators have two or more Vanderbilt scientists as authors. The DRTC is working with other institutions and centers to advance discovery and to communicate scientific information to other researchers and to society.
