The University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC) has selected four recipients for its 2026 Seed Funding Program focused on Precision Diabetes.
Following a competitive application process, four investigators from different backgrounds in Medicine, Informatics, and Engineering will each receive $50,000 to pursue projects selected for their relevance, innovation, feasibility, and potential to attract future external funding.
“This year’s awards are designed to help UAB faculty launch innovative precision diabetes research that addresses critical gaps in knowledge,” said UCDC Director Anath Shalev, M.D. “By advancing our understanding of the different mechanisms underlying diabetes, these projects have the potential to drive more personalized and effective approaches to prevention and treatment.”
Shalev said that the center received a record number of highly competitive applications this year.
“We are excited to support these investigators and continue advancing precision diabetes research at UAB,” she said.
Congratulations to the 2026 UCDC Seed Funding Program for Precision Diabetes awardees:
Jinzhuang Dou, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Informatics & Data Science
Project: Mapping Inherited Type 2 Diabetes Risk to Single-Cell Programs
Priscila Sato, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Disease
Project: Cardiac GRK2 and Diabetic Cardiac Failure
Min Xie, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Disease
Project: Diabetes-Induced Cardiac Damage: HDAC7 as a Novel Therapeutic Target
Lei Ye, M.D. Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Project: Decoding the Roles of Mitochondrial Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase in Endothelial Function in Diabetes