Roger Unger, MD

Professor
Endowed Title: Touchstone/West Distinguished Chair in Diabetes Research
Internal Medicine
Graduate Program: Integrative Biology

Contact Information

UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, Texas 75390

roger.unger@utsouthwestern.edu

Biography

Dr. Unger?s lab is best known for its studies of islet physiology, in particular the elucidation of the roles of insulin and glucagon in the regulation of normal blood glucose homeostasis and in the pathogenesis of diabetes, and the establishment of glucagon as a hormone. It also established the ?enteroinsular axis?, and contributed to the physiology of islet somatostatin and the regulation of GLUT-2 expression in beta-cells. Recently his lab has introduced the concept of ?lipotoxicity?, the process by which overaccumulation of lipids in obesity in nonadipose tissues, for example, the pancreatic islets, leads to diabetes and, in other organs, to the metabolic syndrome. His group has demonstrated the role of leptin action in preventing fat-induced islet failure and metabolic syndrome. Dr. Unger has received the Banting Medal of the American Diabetes Association, the Rumbaugh Award of the Juvenile Diabetes Association, the Claude Bernard Medal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, and the Koch Award of the Endocrine Society. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was Director of the Touchstone Center for Diabetes Research from 1986 until 2007. He is Professor of Internal Medicine and holds the Touchstone/West Distinguished Chair in Diabetes Research.

Education

Graduate SchoolColumbia University Central Office (1947)
UndergraduateYale University (1944)

Research Interests

Diabetes
Metabolic Syndrome
Obesity

Publications

Featured
Regulation of fatty acid homeostasis in cells: Novel role of leptin

Unger RH, Zhou Y-T, Orci L , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA , 1999; (96):2327-2332

Featured
Fatty acid-induced beta cell apoptosis: A link between obesity and diabetes

Shimabukuro M, Zhou Y-T, Levi M, Unger RH , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA , 1998; (95):2498-2502

Featured
Glucagom: Role in the hyperglycemia of diabetes mellitus

Dobbs RE, Sakurai H, Sasaki H, Faloona GR, Valverde I, Baetens D, Orci L, Unger RH , Science , 1975; (187):544-547

Featured
Glucagon physiology and pathophysiology

Unger RH , New England Journal of Medicine , 1971; (285):443-449

Featured
Glucagon antibodies and an immunoassay for glucagon

Unger RH, Eisentraut AM, McCall MS, Madison LL , Journal of Clinical Investigation , 1961; (40):1280-1289

Movin’ on up: Adipocytes become regulators of nutrient homeostasis.

Unger RH, Elmquist JK , Cell Metabolism , March 2006; (3(3)):147-148

Combined leptin actions on adipose tissue and hypothalamus are required to deplete adipocyte fat in lean rats: Implications for obesity treatment.

Park BH, Wang MY, Lee Y, Yu X, Ravazzola M, Orci L, Unger RH , Journal of Biological Chemistry , December 2006; (281 (52)):40283-91

Fat storage in adipocytes requires inactivation of leptin’s paracrine activity: Implications for treatment of human obesity.

Wang MY, Orci L, Ravazzola M, Unger RH , PNAS , December 2005; (102(50)):18011-6

Adiposity of the heart, revisited.

McGavock JM, Victor RG, Unger RH, Szczepaniak LS , Annal of Internal Medicine , April 2006; (144(7)):517-524

The Physiology of Cellular Liporegulation

Unger RH , Annual Review of Physiology , 2003; (65):333-347

Honors/Awards

National Academy of Sciences

(1986)

Fred Conrad Koch Award

The Endocrine Society (1983)

Claude Bernard Memorial Medal and Lectureship

European Association for the Study of Diabetes (1980)

Banting Medal and Memorial Lectureship

Awarded by the American Diabetes Association for scientific achievement (1975)

Lilly Award of the American Diabetes Association

For outstanding research in the field of diabetes in North America (1964)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

American College of Physicians

American Diabetes Association

American Medical Association

National Academy of Sciences