Biography

Dr. Carmella Evans-Molina is the Eli Lilly Professor of Pediatric Diabetes at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, IN, where she serves as Director of the IU Center for Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases and Program Leader for the Diabetes Research Group in the Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research. She is a Staff Physician at the Roudebush Veteran's Affairs (VA) Medical Center. Her research is focused on understanding the molecular and signaling pathways operating within pancreatic β cells that drive the transition from a compensated state of euglycemia to a decompensated state of hyperglycemia in both type 1 (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). In basic science work, Dr. Evans-Molina studies how impaired calcium signaling within the β cell secretory pathway leads to impairments in insulin secretion, processing, and trafficking and activation of organelle-specific stress pathways such as endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi stress. Dr. Evans-Molina's translational and clinical projects harness knowledge gained from studying stress within the β cell to develop biomarker strategies with the goal of informing T1D screening strategies and identifying targets for disease-modifying therapies. Her research is funded by the NIH, the VA Research Program, Breakthrough T1D, and the Helmsley Charitable Trust. She is an investigator in the NIH-funded Type 1 Diabetes Trialnet, RADIANT, and TIDAPC/DREAM Networks. Dr. Evans-Molina is a Co-Executive Director of the Network for Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes (nPOD), Co-PI of the NIH-funded Integrated Islet Distribution Program, and is an Associate Editor for Diabetes.

Read More