Sushant Bhatnagar, Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism and scientist in the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC) received pilot funding for his project “The role of brain angiogenesis inhibitor-3 GPCR signaling in adipose tissues.”

The Diabetes Research Center (DRC) awarded five projects, including Bhatnagar’s, a one-year $45,000 grant through its Pilot and Feasibility Grant Program.

Bhatnagar has previously researched brain angiogenesis inhibitor-3 (BAI3), a protein encoded by the BAI3 gene in humans. It is an adhesion G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR).

Bhatnagar’s lab is interested in how BAI3 signals– or receives information and then acts on that information– in adipose tissue.

Bhatnagar’s project aims to learn more about how BAI3 signaling could be controlled to enhance fat breakdown and energy expenditure. This could then reduce adiposity and improve glucose clearance– how quickly glucose is removed from the blood– to treat and prevent prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes.

“I’m so grateful to the DRC and its leadership for continuing to support vital and pioneering diabetes research across UAB,” said Bhatnagar. “The DRC Pilot and Feasibility Grant Program is a great opportunity for any investigator to sharpen their grant application skills and explore budding diabetes research avenues.”

The DRC emphasizes its Pilot and Feasibility Grant Program as an important mechanism to augment diabetes research and promote the next generation of research leaders. The process for applying for the DRC Pilot and Feasibility Grant is meant to mimic, in some ways, the application process for an NIH Grant.

The DRC is a prestigious P30 NIH award that includes  multidisciplinary faculty researchers from UAB's schools of Health Professions, Medicine, and Public Health, among other units. It falls under the umbrella structure of the UCDC and helps promote excellence in diabetes research.