Christine Kusminski, Ph.D.

Christine Kusminski, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and the Touchstone Diabetes Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Originally from England, Dr. Kusminski holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Cardiff, where she graduated with honors. She completed her doctoral degree in biomedical sciences at the University of Warwick. She completed postdoctoral training in obesity and diabetes at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Dr. Kusminski joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2013.

Dr. Kusminski's research interests include obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolism, and adipose tissue. She has been the Principal Investigator on several clinical trials, as well as lectured nationally on the subjects. Her research findings have resulted in numerous articles in peer-reviewed publications, reviews, book chapters, and non-peer-reviewed media.

Undergraduate

Cardiff University (2003), Biochemistry

Graduate School

Univ of Warwick (2007), Biomedical Sciences

• Mechanisms Underlying Diabetes-associated Lipotoxicity
• Mitochondrial Function in Adipose Tissue Expansion and Whole-body Energy Homeostasis
• Obesity and Adipose Tissue Physiology
• Pancreatic Alpha and Beta Cell Signaling

Featured Publications

Targeting adipose tissue in the treatment of obesity-associated diabetes.

Kusminski CM, Bickel PE, Scherer PE Nat Rev Drug Discov 2016 Jun

MitoNEET-Parkin Effects in Pancreatic a- and ?-Cells, Cellular Survival and Intra-Insular Crosstalk.

Kusminski CM, Chen S, Ye R, Sun K, Wang QA, Spurgin SB, Sanders PE, Brozinick JT, Li WH, Unger RH, Scherer PE Diabetes 2016 Feb

E4orf1 induction in adipose tissue promotes insulin-independent signaling in the adipocyte.

Kusminski CM, Gallardo-Montejano VI, Wang ZV, Hegde V, Bickel PE, Dhurandhar NV, Scherer PE Mol Metab 2015 Oct 4 10 653-664

Leptin beyond the lipostat: key component of blood pressure regulation.

Kusminski CM, Scherer PE Circ. Res. 2015 Apr 116 8 1293-5

MitoNEET-mediated effects on browning of white adipose tissue.

Kusminski CM, Park J, Scherer PE Nat Commun 2014 5 3962

MitoNEET-driven alterations in adipocyte mitochondrial activity reveal a crucial adaptive process that preserves insulin sensitivity in obesity.

Kusminski CM, Holland WL, Sun K, Park J, Spurgin SB, Lin Y, Askew GR, Simcox JA, McClain DA, Li C, Scherer PE Nat. Med. 2012 Oct 18 10 1539-49

Mitochondrial dysfunction in white adipose tissue.

Kusminski CM, Scherer PE Trends Endocrinol. Metab. 2012 Sep 23 9 435-43

Diabetes and apoptosis: lipotoxicity.

Kusminski CM, Shetty S, Orci L, Unger RH, Scherer PE Apoptosis 2009 Dec 14 12 1484-95

The road from discovery to clinic: adiponectin as a biomarker of metabolic status.

Kusminski CM, Scherer PE Clin. Pharmacol. Ther. 2009 Dec 86 6 592-5

Adiponectin complexes in human cerebrospinal fluid: distinct complex distribution from serum.

Kusminski CM, McTernan PG, Schraw T, Kos K, O'Hare JP, Ahima R, Kumar S, Scherer PE Diabetologia 2007 Mar 50 3 634-42

• JDRF Award
  Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Grant (2007)
• ASO Award
  Ph.D. Student Research of the Year Award, Association for the Study of Obesity, London, UK (2006)
• Albert Renold Award
  Fellowship Award from the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (EFSD), Dusseldorf, Germany (2005)

• American Heart Association (2013)
• Association for the Study of Obesity, UK (2006-2007)
• British Endocrine Society, UK (2004-2008)
• European Association for the Study of Diabetes (2004-2008)
• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (2007)