Purdue News
Purdue News
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April 27, 2004 Innovation earns scientist 2004 Purdue Agricultural Research AwardWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Michael Spurlock is combining his study of swine disease, growth and nutrition to delve into human diabetes and obesity. This innovative science has earned him the 2004 Purdue University Agricultural Research Award.
"We are continuing our work on the relationship of fat cells to immunity, especially concerning human obesity and diabetes," said Spurlock, a Purdue animal sciences professor. "But we never lose touch with pig production. The function of adipocytes, fat cells, is important for breeding stock." Spurlock will receive his award at 2 p.m. May 7 in Roy L. Whistler Hall of Agricultural Research, Room 116. At the event, which is open to the public, Spurlock will deliver a seminar about his research. Spurlock's focus on the role of fat cells in regulating energy balance and immune response contributed to his selection as the research award winner, said Randy Woodson, director of Agricultural Research Programs. "Mike has made exceptional contributions to the body of knowledge concerning metabolism, fat and the immune system," Woodson said. "His work promises to have major impact on human health, animal productivity and animal well-being." Spurlock found evidence that adipocytes are active participants and regulators of how the body responds to disease. The fat cells secrete hormone-like proteins that help determine how dietary energy is used in other tissues and also regulate immune response pathways, he said. When this regulatory system doesn't function correctly, people and animals don't properly use, or metabolize, the food they eat, and they can become obese and/or develop Type II diabetes. People with Type II diabetes produce insulin in their pancreas, but the insulin can't control their glucose levels as it would in people without the disease. Adipocytes normally produce hormone-like substances that promote insulin regulation of glucose levels, but these factors don't function properly when obesity is involved. "The fact that fat cells actually promote or secrete these hormone-like factors may be fundamentally linked to insulin resistance," Spurlock said. "If we can learn the regulators that control energy metabolism and inflammation in fat cells, we may be able to better manipulate the immune system to control energy metabolism and apply that to treating diabetes and cancer." His investigation of these biochemical regulatory pathways now includes studies of a rare breed of pig in which diabetes naturally occurs. This is one of the projects of the Comparative Medicine Program, of which Spurlock is a member. The program is a collaboration of Purdue's Department of Animal Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine and Indiana University School of Medicine with initial funding from the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund. The research award includes a plaque, a $1,500 honorarium and $10,000 for continuation of Spurlock's work. Writer: Susan A. Steeves, (765) 4967481, ssteeves@purdue.edu Sources: Randy Woodson, (765) 494-8362, woodson@purdue.edu Michael Spurlock, (765) 494-4820, spurloc0@purdue.edu Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722; Beth Forbes, bforbes@aes.purdue.edu
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