Meredith Hawkins

Abstract Guest Lecture: "Tackling the Multi-Organ Pathogenesis of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus"

Dr. Meredith Hawkins is associate professor of medicine in the diabetes research and training center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

Her current research interests include the regulation of hepatic glucose production by hyperglycemia per se in type 2 diabetes mellitus, and the effects of nutrient excess on metabolic features of the insulin resistance syndrome. Dr. Hawkins has a tremendous interest to restrain the burgeoning epidemic of obesity and diabetes in the developing world. During the last ten years she has worked with key institutions in Uganda, Rwanda and India, to collaborate toward this vision.

Dr. Hawkins earned her M.D. degree cum laude from the University of Toronto and a Master of Science in clinical research methods cum laude from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She is associate editor of the "American Journal of Physiology," and secretary treasurer of the American Federation of Medical Research. Dr. Hawkins’ current research interests include the effects of nutrient excess on insulin resistance, nutritional regulation of adipose tissue macrophages, and the regulation of hepatic glucose production by hyperglycemia per se in diabetes mellitus.

Dr. Hawkins is a Beeson Scholar of the American Federation of Aging Research, and has received research grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Diabetes Association, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International and the Diabetes Action Foundation International.

She is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Outstanding Clinical Associate Physician Award from the National Institutes of Health and the Junior Physician Scientist Award from the American Federation of Medical Research. She was recently awarded the Novartis Young Investigator award in Diabetes Research, an international prize given to the most outstanding clinical investigator under the age of 45 who is conducting diabetes or obesity research.