Collaborating with Yale to enhance obesity and diabetes research
The Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute is working to tackle obesity and type 2 diabetes with one of the oldest universities in the US, Yale. A delegation of nine people from Monash recently visited Yale University to strengthen our collaborative relationship with their program in Integrative Cell Signaling and Neurobiology of Metabolism (ICSNM).
Head of the Biomedicine Discovery Institute’s (BDI) Metabolic Disease and Obesity Program, Professor Tony Tiganis, led the delegation to Yale to establish a strategic alliance with their ICSNM program, which is a world-leader in the field of metabolic research. Professor Tiganis said the strategic alliance of the two programs would fast-track quality research, as well as grow the two programs’ international research profiles in the fields of metabolic disease and obesity.
“Our two programs have overlapping and complementary research interests, and this alliance will help us to address some of the fundamental research questions in the area of metabolic research,” Professor Tiganis said.
“Our collaboration will fast-track research endeavours and help translate our research from discoveries to the clinic, which will help combat the epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes,” he said.
The delegation spent three days at Yale, where they toured the School of Medicine and university campus, and met with senior staff in the Yale School of Medicine. During their stay, delegates presented their research and on the strengths of collaborating with Monash to the School of Medicine. The delegation also attended the ICSNM’s annual research retreat, where they heard about the current research of 13 different lab groups.
The delegation are now working towards developing long-term jointly-funded initiatives with Yale University, including a PhD student and postdoctoral exchange program.
Professor Tiganis said the exchange program was vital to making the alliance work across such a large distance.
A number of investigators from Yale’s ICSNM program will visit Melbourne in December this year for the Metabolic Diseases: breakthrough discoveries in diabetes and obesity conference, including Associate Professor Matthew Rodeheffer and Co-Director of the ICSNM program, Professor Anton Bennett.