Endocrine Pharmacology

The body employs an array of hormones to regulate internal temperature, metabolism, growth, and responses to stress and injury. Research within the U-M Medical School Department of Pharmacology investigates the mechanisms underlying:

1. The biogenesis of trafficking organelles and the synthesis, storage and secretion of hormones from the adrenal medulla and endocrine pancreas.
2. Steroid biosynthesis, with an emphasis on the mechanistic enzymology of steroidogenic cytochrome P450s and dehydrogenases/reductases. The translational application of this research leverages our expertise in steroid mass spectrometry and use of multi-steroid panels to profile steroid hormones, precursors and metabolite in a single assay.
3. Pulsatile insulin secretion from pancreatic islets and stimulus secretion coupling in pancreatic beta cell, with an emphasis on dysfunctional secretion in type 1 and type 2 diabetes.