UAB Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism Associate Professor and Scientist in the Comprehensive Diabetes Center Sushant Bhatnagar, Ph.D., was awarded a prestigious one-year R56 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The R56 award is an extension of Bhatnagar’s five-year R01 project, “The role of Tomosyn-1 in regulating insulin secretion from pancreatic beta-cells.” The NIH awarded Bhatnagar this grant to provide interim research support based on the merit of his pending R01 renewal application while his lab gathers additional data.

The purpose of Bhatnagar’s original R01 award was to understand how Tomosyn-1 function in beta-cells can be manipulated to improve insulin secretion in impaired glucose tolerance for the treatment and prevention of prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes (T2D).

The Bhatnagar Lab originally discovered Tomosyn-1 as an endogenous inhibitor of insulin secretion. Through the NIH R01 grant, the lab conducted research into how Tomosyn-1 inhibits insulin secretion from beta-cells and how its function is regulated at the molecular level.

The lab demonstrated that beta-cell-specific loss of Tomosyn-1 increased insulin secretion, improving glucose clearance in mice. Through this R56 award, the lab will conduct human-islet research to better understand how beta-cells fine-tune insulin secretion and fusion of insulin granules during impaired glucose tolerance.

“I’m so proud of the research that our lab has conducted so far, and I look forward to sharing the results of our R56 research with the NIH,” said Bhatnagar. “We are passionate about continuing our exciting insulin secretion discoveries and the impact that it might have on those with diabetes.”

The Bhatnagar lab–comprised of several researchers, graduate, and undergraduate students–is interested in discovering mechanisms that regulate whole-body glucose homeostasis. It focuses on pancreatic beta-cells and adipose tissue to reveal new findings with practical implications for treating obesity and T2D.