Research Programs

Basic Research
Clinical Research

Measurements of mouse cortical boneBasic Research

Bone and Mineral Research
The Endocrine section offers an extensive array of both laboratory based and clinical research on topics related to metabolic bone disease and more general aspects of bone biology. Dr. Drezner's laboratory studies phosphate metabolism and its impact on mineralization. Dr. Blank's laboratory studies the genetic basis of individual variation in bone biomechanical performance.

Pancreatic islet

Diabetes and Pancreatic Beta Cell Research
A major research focus of the Endocrine section is diabetes and pancreatic beta cell research. Dr. Shalev'slaboratory studies the molecular biology of pancreatic beta cell function, gene transcription and apoptosis and investigates novel approaches to preserve endogenous beta cell mass and thereby prevent or delay diabetes. Additional projects focus on the molecular mechanism involved in diabetic cardiomyopathy. Dr. Jaume's laboratory studies the immunology of type 1 diabetes and focuses on antigen specific insulitis and its implications for diabetes in in vivo and in vitro models.

Endocrine Cancer Research
In collaboration with Endocrine Surgery and as a member of the UWCCC, Dr. Shalev's laboratory also studies cellular pathways involved in controlling proliferation or apoptosis in neuroendocrine tumors.

Clinical Research

Clinical Bone Research
Dr. Hansen (joint with Rheumatology) studies calcium absorption in the clinical setting. Dr. Binkley (joint with Geriatrics) studies the performance of clinical metrics that are used to monitor bone health. Dr. Ramamurthy studies the potential effect(s) of vitamin D on cardiovascular health.
In addition to their individual research activities, Drs. Blank, Drezner, Hanson, Binkley and Ramamurthy collaborate on several joint projects and conduct pharmaceutical trials.
The Osteoporosis Clinical Center and Research Program provides evaluation and treatment for osteoporosis and its clinical research efforts focus on maintaining bone health and prevent osteoporosis and fractures.

Clinical Diabetes Research
The UW Clinical Diabetes Center research group headed by Dr. Meredith participates in clinical studies for treatment of diabetes and its complications. The Center serves as a study site for several Phase 2, 3, and 4 clinical trials investigating new medications and devices for treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Current Studies with:

Open Enrollment
A Multi-center, randomized double-blind, active controlled clinical trial to evaluate the safety and tolerability of 24 weeks treatment with vildaglitin (50 mg qd) in patients with type 2 diabetes and severe renal insufficiency.
Sponsor: Novartis
Now enrolling subjects

A Phase 2, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of PROCHYMAL (ex vivo cultured adult human mesenchymal stem cells) for the treatment of recently diagnosed type 1 diabetes mellitus.
Sponsor: Osiris Therapeutics
Now enrolling subjects

Enrollment Completed
A Prospective, Randomized, Two-arm Study to compare the efficacy of the MiniMed Paradigm Real-Time System versus multiple daily injection (MDI) in subjects with Type 1 diabetes mellitus naïve to insulin pump therapy.
Sponsor: Medtronic Corp.
Enrollment closed

Clinical Thyroid Research

A major project is dedicated to establishing the first comprehensive (imaging, cytology and clinical correlation) database of patients undergoing ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration of their thyroids (Thyroid Ultrasound/FNA Database Study). The data is further being used in several clinical projects including characterization of cancer risk/severity, prevalence of autoimmune thyroid diseases and imaging/cytology correlation.

Clinical Endocrine Cancer Research

The Endocrine Tumor Disease Oriented Work Group conducts clinical studies to test novel therapeutic agents for a variety of endocrine cancers. A major focus is the investigation of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors and vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors (VEGF) for the management of endocrine cancers such as medullary thyroid cancer, carcinoid and other neuroendocrine tumors. The group is headed by the Chief of Endocrine Surgery (Dr. Herb Chen) and includes faculty members from Endocrinology (e.g. Drs. Elson and Jaume), Oncology, Pathology and Radiology.

Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR)

The Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) headed by Dr. Drezner offers a large variety of resources for researchers who pursue clinical and/or translational studies