BCAS faculty Alison Roland was recently awarded a pilot grant from the North Carolina Diabetes Research Center (NCDRC) to investigate mechanisms underlying impaired brain glucose transport in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Changes in central glucose availability in diabetes can disrupt satiety signaling and contribute to obesity progression. Dr. Roland’s project will use a novel genetically encoded fluorescent glucose sensor, iGlucoSnFR2, to measure real-time brain glucose dynamics longitudinally in mice fed a high-fat diet, an established model for obesity and type 2 diabetes. This cutting-edge approach will be combined with metabolomics analyses to provide insight into the timeline and mechanisms driving glucose transport defects in diabetes, with the goal of identifying new therapeutic targets to restore central glucose delivery and improve metabolic health.
Dr. Roland is a Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at UNC and has a faculty appointment at the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies.