Sharon Baumel-Alterzon Lab
Our lab focuses on deciphering the impact of redox regulation in insulin-producing pancreatic beta-cells under both physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Our overarching goal is to uncover the molecular mechanisms by which oxidative stress regulates β-cell growth, survival, and function, with the aim of identifying therapeutic strategies to replenish and protect functional beta-cell mass in diabetes.
Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, Arthur Riggs Diabetes & Metabolism Institute
Lab Members
Jason Groegler joined Dr. Sharon Baumel-Alterzon's lab at City of
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Jason Groegler joined Dr. Sharon Baumel-Alterzon's lab at City of Hope in 2026. He completed his PhD in pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, where he trained under Dr. Thomas Delong and applied mass spectrometry and immunological methods to study the role of hybrid insulin peptides in type 1 diabetes pathogenesis.
Ashley Ling joined Dr. Sharon Baumel-Alterzon’s lab at City of
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Ashley Ling joined Dr. Sharon Baumel-Alterzon’s lab at City of Hope in 2025. She earned her B.S. in Biological Sciences with a focus in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from California State University, Fullerton. As a CIRM Bridges Scholar, she studied iPSC-derived microglia in spinal cord injury and has prior experience in protein purification and cancer research in the biotech industry.
Publications
- Saunders E.F, Schultz K.R, Lowe I, Anderson A. L, Bikkumalla V. S, Soto D., Tran N.Y, Baumel-Alterzon S, Knight J. D, Shearn C.T. Rapid Protein Carbonylation and Decreased Insulin Secretion Induced by Inflammatory Oxidative Stress Compounds. Free Radic. Biol. Med. 2026 242:320-332.
- Ling A, Schultz K.R, Knight J. D, Shearn C.T, Baumel-Alterzon S. Scars of oxidative stress: protein carbonylation and beta cell dysfunction in diabetes. Front. in Endocrinol. 2025 16:1722623.
- Heidery F, Lambertini L, Tse I, Dodda S, Garcia-Ocaña A, Scott K. D, Baumel-Alterzon S. NRF2 Deficiency Leads to Inadequate Beta Cell Adaptation during Pregnancy and Gestational Diabetes. Redox Biol 2025 24:81:103566.
- Baumel-Alterzon S, Katz S. L, Lambertini L, Tse I, Heidery F, Garcia-Ocaña A, Scott K. D. NRF2 Is Required for Neonatal Mouse Beta-Cell Growth by Maintaining Redox Balance and Promoting Mitochondrial Biogenesis and Function. Diabetologia 2024 67(3):547-560 (Featured on cover page).
- Katz LS, Brill G, Zhang P, Kumar A, Baumel-Alterzon S, Honig LB, Gómez-Banoy N, Karakose E, Tanase M, Doridot L, Alvarsson A, Davenport B, Wang P, Lambertini L, Stanley SA, Homann D, Stewart AF, Lo JC, Herman MA, Garcia-Ocaña A, Scott DK. Maladaptive Positive Feedback Production of ChREBPβ Underlies Glucotoxic Beta-Cell Failure. Nat Commun. 2022 30;13(1):4423.
- Baumel-Alterzon S, Scott K. D. Regulation of Pdx1 by Oxidative Stress and NRF2 in Pancreatic Beta-Cells. Front Endocrinol. 2022. 15;13:1011187.
- Baumel-Alterzon S, Katz S. L, Brill G, Jean-Pierre C, Li Y, Biswal S, Garcia-Ocaña A, Scott K. D. NRF2 Regulates Beta-Cell Mass BY Suppressing Beta-Cell Death and Promoting Beta-Cell Proliferation. Diabetes 2022 1;71(5):989-1011.
- Andrei, S.R., Bosma, K.J., Smith, A.A., Katz, L.S., Dunn, J.C., Ricciardi, V.F., Ramirez, M.A., Baumel-Alterzon, S., Pace, W.A., Thomas, D.C., Overway, E.M., Wolf, E.M., Kimple, M.E., Sheng, Q., Scott, D.K., Breyer, R.M., and Gannon, M. 2021. Pharmacological Blockade of the EP3 Prostaglandin E2 Receptor Promotes Beta-Cell Mass and Identity in the Setting of Diabetes. Mol Metab. 2021 54:101347.
- Baumel-Alterzon S, Katz S. L, Brill G, Garcia-Ocaña A, Scott K. D. Nrf2: The Master and Captain of Beta Cell Fate. Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2021. 32:7-19.
- Katz S. L, Baumel-Alterzon S, Scott K. D, Herman A. M. Adaptive and Maladaptive Roles for ChREBP in the Liver and Pancreatic Islets. J Biol Chem. 2021. 296:100623.
- *Rosselot C, *Baumel-Alterzon S, Li Y, Brill G, Lambertini L, S. Katz L, Lu G, Garcia-Ocaña A, Scott K. D. The Many Lives of Myc in the Pancreatic Beta-Cell. J Biol Chem. 2020. 296:100122. *Co-first authors.
- Molgora B, Mukherjee S, Baumel-Alterzon S, Santiago F, Muratore K, Sisk A; Mercer F, Johnson P. J. Trichomonas vaginalis Adherence Phenotypes and Extracellular Vesicles Impact Parasite Survival in a Novel In Vivo Mice Model. PLOS Negl. Trop. Dis. 2023 17(10):e0011693.
- Shahi P, Vanunu S, Avrahami A, Nagaraja S, Baumel-Alterzon S, Hertz R, Trebicz-Geffen M, and Ankri S. N-acetyl Ornithine Deacetylase Moonlighting Activity is Involved in the Adaptation of Entamoeba histolytica to Nitrosative Stress. Sci Rep. 2016. 3;6:36323.
- Shahi P, Trebicz-Geffen M, Nagajara S, Baumel-Alterzon S, Hertz R, Ankri S. Proteomic Identification of Oxidized Proteins in Entamoeba histolytica by Resin-Assisted Capture; Insights into the Role of Arginase in Resistance to Oxidative Stress. Plos Negl. Trop. Dis. 2015. 10(1): e0004340.
- Baumel-Alterzon S, Ankri S. Entamoeba histolytica Adaptation to Glucose Starvation: a Matter of Life and Death. Curr Opin Microbiol 2014. 20:139-45.
- Baumel-Alterzon S, Weber C, Guillén N, Ankri S. Identification of Dihydropyrimidine Dehydrogenase as a Virulence Factor Essential for the Survival of Entamoeba histolytica in Glucose-Poor Environments. Cell Microbiol. 2012. 15(1):130-44.