Michael Walker’s Lab

Diabetes is a metabolic disease whose incidence has reached epidemic proportions worldwide. Diabetes results from inadequate production of insulin by the beta cells located in pancreatic islets: this leads to persistently elevated blood glucose levels, the hallmark symptom of diabetes. There is currently no cure for diabetes, and although treatments are available, these have many limitations. The goal of our research is to understand how pancreatic beta cells perform their unique functions. We focus on 1) the mechanisms underlying the embryonic development of beta cells both in vivo and in vitro and 2) the transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms that permit beta cells to fulfill their role of releasing insulin in response to physiological needs.