Blandine Laferrère, MD, PhD

An estimated 35 million Americans have type 2 diabetes and 88 millions have prediabetes. Both prediabetes and diabetes are associated with being overweight or obese. Calorie restriction and weight loss delay the progression from prediabetes to diabetes, resulting in improvement of glucose control and, in certain conditions, diabetes remission.

The Laferrère laboratory studies the mechanisms by which various modes of weight loss, from bariatric surgery to time restricted eating, can improve insulin secretion, insulin sensitivity, and glucose metabolism, and decrease cardiovascular risk in individuals with obesity and prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. 

The current research in the Laferrère laboratory includes studies to understand how time restricted eating results in weight loss and decreases cardiovascular risk. A separate study tests how decreasing bedtime variability across nights will improve glucose metabolism and reduce fat mass in persons with diabetes. Previous studies in the laboratory have uncovered the role of the gut hormones incretins in the improvement of insulin secretion in patients who experience diabetes remission after weight loss following gastric bypass surgery.

Recent Publications

• Manoogian EN, Chow LS, Taub PR, Laferrère B, Panda S. Time-restricted eating for the prevention and management of metabolic diseases. Endocr Rev. 2021 Sep 22:bnab027. doi: 10.1210/endrev/bnab027. PMID: 34550357
• Prasad M, Mark V, Ligon C, Dutia R, Nair N, Shah A, Laferrère B. Role of the gut in the temporal changes of β-cell function after gastric bypass in individuals with and without diabetes remission. Diabetes Care. 2021 Dec 2:dc211270. doi: 10.2337/dc21-1270.PMID: 34857533
• Kwee LC, Ilkayeva O, Muehlbauer MJ, Bihlmeyer N, Wolfe B, Purnell JQ, Xavier Pi-Sunyer F, Chen H, Bahnson J, Newgard CB, Shah SH, Laferrère B. Metabolites and diabetes remission after weight loss.  Nutr Diabetes. 2021 Feb 24;11(1):10. doi: 10.1038/s41387-021-00151-6.Nutr Diabetes. 2021. PMID: 33627633