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Perry Bickel, M.D.

Perry Bickel, M.D.

Associate Profess & Division Chief

Endowed Title
Daniel W. Foster, M.D., Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine
School
Medical School
Department
Internal Medicine
Graduate Programs
Cell and Molecular Biology

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For more information on the doctor and patient care, please visit the clinical profile.

  • Biography

    Download Curriculum Vitae

    Perry E. Bickel, M.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He serves as Chief of the Division of Endocrinology and holds the Daniel W. Foster, M.D., Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine. 

    Originally from Houston, Dr. Bickel holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy and classical civilization from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. He then earned his medical degree at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He completed both internal medicine residency training and a fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He also completed a research fellowship at Harvard Medical School and served as a visiting scientist at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

    Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism, Dr. Bickel joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2012.

    Among his other roles, Dr. Bickel is the Associate Program Director of UT Southwestern’s Endocrine and Metabolism Training Grant. His research lab investigates how cells store and use fat and the underlying mechanisms that could be targeted to develop safe and effective treatments for diabetes and obesity. 

    Dr. Bickel is a member of the American Diabetes Association, the Dallas County Medical Society, the Endocrine Society, and the Obesity Society.

    Among his many honors, he was named a Best Doctor in America for three consecutive years, as well as a D Magazine Best Doctor three times.

  • Education
    Medical School
    UT Southwestern Medical School (1988)
    Residency
    Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital (1990), Internal Medicine
    Fellowship
    Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital (1994), Endocrinology & Metabolism
  • Research Interest
    • Adipocyte biology
    • Brown adipose tissue
    • Cellular lipid metabolism
    • Lipid droplet biology
    • Perilipin proteins
  • Publications

    Star Featured Publications

    Perilipin 5 links mitochondrial uncoupled respiration in brown fat to healthy white fat remodeling and systemic glucose tolerance.
    Gallardo-Montejano VI, Yang C, Hahner L, McAfee JL, Johnson JA, Holland WL, Fernandez-Valdivia R, Bickel PE, Nat Commun 2021 06 12 1 3320
    Deciphering the Role of Lipid Droplets in Cardiovascular Disease: A Report From the 2017 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Workshop.
    Goldberg IJ, Reue K, Abumrad NA, Bickel PE, Cohen S, Fisher EA, Galis ZS, Granneman JG, Lewandowski ED, Murphy R, Olive M, Schaffer JE, Schwartz-Longacre L, Shulman GI, Walther TC, Chen J Circulation 2018 Jul 138 3 305-315
    Nuclear Perilipin 5 integrates lipid droplet lipolysis with PGC-1a/SIRT1-dependent transcriptional regulation of mitochondrial function.
    Gallardo-Montejano VI, Saxena G, Kusminski CM, Yang C, McAfee JL, Hahner L, Hoch K, Dubinsky W, Narkar VA, Bickel PE Nat Commun 2016 7 12723
    PAT proteins, an ancient family of lipid droplet proteins that regulate cellular lipid stores.
    Bickel PE, Tansey JT, Welte MA Biochim. Biophys. Acta 2009 Jun 1791 6 419-40
    Lipid droplets in lipogenesis and lipolysis.
    Ducharme NA, Bickel PE Endocrinology 2008 Mar 149 3 942-9
    OXPAT/PAT-1 is a PPAR-induced lipid droplet protein that promotes fatty acid utilization.
    Wolins NE, Quaynor BK, Skinner JR, Tzekov A, Croce MA, Gropler MC, Varma V, Yao-Borengasser A, Rasouli N, Kern PA, Finck BN, Bickel PE Diabetes 2006 Dec 55 12 3418-28
    A proposed model of fat packaging by exchangeable lipid droplet proteins.
    Wolins NE, Brasaemle DL, Bickel PE FEBS Lett. 2006 Oct 580 23 5484-91
    Insulin promotes shedding of syndecan ectodomains from 3T3-L1 adipocytes: a proposed mechanism for stabilization of extracellular lipoprotein lipase.
    Reizes O, Goldberger O, Smith AC, Xu Z, Bernfield M, Bickel PE Biochemistry 2006 May 45 18 5703-11
    OP9 mouse stromal cells rapidly differentiate into adipocytes: characterization of a useful new model of adipogenesis.
    Wolins NE, Quaynor BK, Skinner JR, Tzekov A, Park C, Choi K, Bickel PE J. Lipid Res. 2006 Feb 47 2 450-60
    S3-12, Adipophilin, and TIP47 package lipid in adipocytes.
    Wolins NE, Quaynor BK, Skinner JR, Schoenfish MJ, Tzekov A, Bickel PE J. Biol. Chem. 2005 May 280 19 19146-55
  • Professional Associations/Affiliations
    • American Diabetes Association
    • Dallas County Medical Society
    • The Endocrine Society
    • The Obesity Society