About the Core

The Physiology Core consolidates the expertise and experience related to in vivo measures of parameters of glucose tolerance and physiological regulation of carbohydrate metabolism accumulated over more than 15 years by DRTC investigators. This Core assists in a wide array of in vivo procedures for assessing insulin secretion, insulin sensitivity, and factors regulating glucose tolerance. It provides consultative, technical, analytical and interpretative support. Since recent work by DRTC investigators has shown that sleep loss may be a risk factor for the metabolic syndrome and epidemiology studies indicate that up to 40% of diabetic patients have sleep-disordered breathing, the Physiology Core of the University of Chicago DRTC also includes the unique feature of offering services related to sleep assessment. This Core was instituted to ensure that all independently funded investigators involved in diabetes research at the University of Chicago have access to a wide range of well-validated, standardized methods for in vivo evaluation of parameters of glucose tolerance. The services offered by the Core facilitate the phenotyping of parameters of glucose tolerance in both humans and mice while avoiding the proliferation of multiple independent protocols involving variable testing procedures.

Director: Eve Van Cauter, Ph.D.
Co-Director: Plamen D. Penev, M.D., Ph.D.