Julio Ayala, Ph.D., joined Sanford-Burnham from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Tennessee where he was Research Assistant Professor (2007-2009) in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and Technology Transfer Director for the Vanderbilt-NIH Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Center. Dr. Ayala received his Ph.D. and conducted his post-doctoral studies in molecular physiology and biophysics at Vanderbilt University. His postdoctoral work was at Vanderbilt with Dr. David Wasserman, focusing on regulatory mechanisms that control insulin-stimulated muscle glucose uptake.

Related Diseases, Metabolic Syndrome, Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, Aging-Related Diseases, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cardiomyopathies, Metabolic Diseases, Diabetes-General. The growing epidemic of the metabolic syndrome is a critical health care issue affecting the quality of life for millions of individuals. A predominant factor associated with the metabolic syndrome is dysregulated fuel metabolism. The general aim of our research has been to understand the control of inter-organ fuel metabolism with particular emphasis on the regulation of glucose flux by insulin. The approach is to utilize dietary manipulations and pharmacological intervention to perturb metabolic systems in various mouse models. Our laboratory has developed state-of-the-art chronic catheterization techniques that allow for the assessment of insulin action in vivo in unstressed, non-restrained conscious mice using the hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp.