The Taubman Institute Spring Symposium will feature keynote by Richard DiMarchi, a leader in obesity and diabetes drug development.
The May 7 symposium also will include complementary talks by Michigan Medicine faculty members. A scientific poster session with cash prizes, open to all U-M researchers, will precede the talks and be judged by Taubman Scholars.
Headlines have been dominated in recent months by a new class of drugs, like Ozempic and Mounjaro, based on gastrointestinal hormones that include GLP-1, and their ability to control Type 2 diabetes without insulin while reducing body weight. But while these positive effects may have been news to many, Dr. DiMarchi was helping lay the foundation for their emergence for the past 40 years.
Dr. DiMarchi is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Gill Chair in Biomolecular Sciences at Indiana University. His research has championed the biosynthesis and chemical optimization of macromolecules, such as peptides and proteins, with enhanced therapeutic properties. He has spent much of his career focused on improving the lives of individuals with diabetes, and in more recent decades, obesity.
During a 20-year career at Lilly Research Labs, Dr. DiMarchi initiated GLP-1 research – the science that has led to today’s weight-loss drugs — through a collaboration with Karolinska Institute professor Suad Efendic, a leading physician-scientist in diabetes. They were the first to determine that GLP-1 was able to reduce body weight in overweight adult-onset diabetic patients.
“His magic is in the development of novel peptides that can be used therapeutically,” said Charles F. Burant, director of the Taubman Institute at Michigan Medicine. In addition to his faculty appointment at Indiana University, Dr. DiMarchi is a member of the Taubman Institute’s executive board.
The Taubman Institute Spring Symposium will take place from 8:30am to noon in the Kahn Auditorium of the Biomedical Science Research Building. No registration is required, all are welcome. A poster session and continental breakfast will precede the symposium, beginning at 7:30am.
Click here for more about Dr. DiMarchi.
Click here for information about exhibiting at the poster session.
