Philipp Scherer, Ph.D.
Professor and Distinguished Chair in Diabetes Research
Director, Touchstone Diabetes Center
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

“Systemic Contributions of the Adipocyte in Diabetes, Obesity and Cancer”

A number of different cell types contribute to the cellular architecture of fat tissue. While the fat cell is functionally making important contributions to the systemic “metabolic well-being”, several additional cell types contribute a supportive role to bestow maximal flexibility on the tissue with respect to many biosynthetic and catabolic processes, depending on whether the individual is in a fed or fasted state. These cell types give rise to adipose tissue, a tissue with remarkable flexibility with respect to expansion and contraction, optimizing the ability of fat tissue to act as an endocrine organ through the release of many protein factors that critically influence systemic lipid homeostasis, as well as biochemically contributing many metabolites. Dr. Scherer will describe his laboratory’s efforts to gain a better understanding of the physiological impact that healthy and unhealthy adipose tissue exerts in the local microenvironment as well as systemically, and will focus on describing these effects in the context of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.