Dr. Evans-Molina’s research program is focused on defining the molecular and inflammatory etiologies of β-cell dysfunction that contribute to diabetes pathophysiology. She has a clinical research interest focused on leveraging activation of β-cell stress pathways to inform the development of biomarkers that predict diabetes risk and define disease endotypes.
Projects in her lab encompass the following themes:
- Defining the pathways that regulate intracellular calcium homeostasis within the pancreatic β-cell secretory pathway
- Defining the role of intracellular calcium dyshomeostasis during the evolution of type 1 and type 2 diabetes
- The development and implementation of novel imaging techniques to monitor β-cell calcium flux under conditions of health and disease
- The discovery and validation of novel serum protein and nucleic acid biomarkers that identify early β cell-stress in clinically silent Type 1 diabetes, with the goal of applying these biomarkers in diabetes prevention paradigms or as surrogate clinical endpoints in response to therapeutic interventions
Research: Islet Function and Survival
