Christine Kusminski, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Originally from England, Dr. Kusminski completed her graduate work at The University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. Drawn by the collaborative interdisciplinary research utilized to study Obesity and Type 2 diabetes and their associated co-morbidities, Dr. Kusminski brings to the Touchstone Diabetes Center at UTSW a strong background in mitochondrial bioenergetics, in the context of adipose tissue physiology and energy metabolism. Her current research focuses on: 1) how regulating mitochondrial activity and shifting substrate-flux influences cellular and tissue function to alter whole-body lipid and glucose homeostasis; 2) evaluating the integrated signaling mechanisms that govern white adipose tissue expansion under metabolic perturbations, such as surplus caloric-intake; and 3) understanding how pancreatic alpha and beta cells interact in a diabetic setting.

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