The University of Alabama at Birmingham Diabetes Research Center (DRC) has named six recipients of the 2026 Pilot and Feasibility Grant Program, which identifies and supports new outstanding and innovative diabetes research projects at UAB.
As a National Institute of Health-funded research center, the DRC focuses on developing new methods to treat, prevent, and ultimately cure diabetes and its complications and as part of the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center umbrella structure promotes excellence in diabetes research and patient care.
Pilot and Feasibility grants are awarded each spring and are designed to foster new research programs, support junior faculty career development, and augment the scope and quality of diabetes research through highly innovative projects of established investigators.
Awards totaling $225,000 were granted to six principal investigators from the UAB School of Health Professions, UAB Heersink School of Medicine, and UAB School of Public Health.
“I am extremely enthusiastic about our 2026 Pilot and Feasibility projects. These projects span basic, clinical, and population/outcomes science and exemplify our mission to advance new and innovative diabetes research,” said Pilot and Feasibility Program Director Kirk Habegger, Ph.D., professor in the UAB Department of Medicine Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. “We have also collaborated with the Nutrition and Obesity Research Center to co-fund two awards that address overlapping components of diabetes and obesity. In all, we expect these pilot awards to support promising junior faculty career development and lead to much greater, future funding within the DRC community.”
Congratulations to the 2026 Pilot and Feasibility Grant awardees:
Carmen De Miguel, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Cardio-Renal Physiology and Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Heersink School of Medicine
Project: “The Dendritic Cell-Endothelin-1 Interaction Leads to Metabolic Dysfunction in Obesity”
Theodoros Giannouchos, Ph.D., Health Policy and Organization, School of Public Health
Project: “Impact of Alabama Medicaid BMI Reporting on Pediatric T2D Screening and Diagnosis”
Zhangli Su, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Genetics Research Division, Department of Genetics, Heersink School of Medicine
Project: “tRNA Homeostasis in Beta Cells and Glucose Metabolism”
Dario Vitturi, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, Department of Pathology, Heersink School of Medicine
Project: “Kyn-CKA as a Novel Driver for Hepatic Glucose Metabolism Dysregulation in Obesity and Renal Disease”
Zhe Wang, Ph.D., Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health
Project: “Proteomic Determinants of Obesity-Cardiometabolic Uncoupling and Diabetes Risk”
Kathryn Whyte, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Nutrition Sciences, School of Health Professions
Project: “Metabolic Flexibility and Mitochondrial Phenotype During GLP-1 Receptor Agonist–Induced Weight Loss in Adults with Obesity”