Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology Research Labs

Debbie C. Thurmond, Ph.D., holder of the Ruth B. & Robert K. Lanman Chair in Gene Regulation and Drug Discovery Research, serves as professor and founding chair in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology within the Diabetes and Metabolic Research Institute at City of Hope. Her research group seeks to identify cellular and molecular mechanisms behind diabetes development and find therapies that can stop or reverse the disease’s progression. Other projects focus on improving islet cell transplantation and revealing biomarkers for detecting diabetes development.

 

Patrick Fueger, Ph.D., is associate professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Metabolism within the Diabetes and Metabolism Research Institute at City of Hope and director of the Metabolic Phenotyping Core Facility in Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope. His lab works at the intersection of investigations addressing diabetes and liver disease, applying an engineer’s eye to the signaling mechanisms that control metabolism.

 

Lei Jiang, Ph.D., is assistant professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology within the Diabetes and Metabolism Research Institute at City of Hope. His research team explores metabolism as a coordinated system, both when in balance and when thrown out of balance by disease. In particular, they study the changes in how the body processes sugar and amino acids in diabetes and cancer.

 

Qiong (Annabel) Wang, Ph.D., is associate professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology within the Diabetes and Metabolic Research Institute at City of Hope. She and her team study the development of fat cells — in particular the ones that make up white adipose tissue, sometimes called “bad fat.” These studies have implications for fighting type 2 diabetes and the numerous ailments associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome.