Role of sex, metabolic disease and inflammation in COVID-19 severity

What area of diabetes research does your project cover? What role will this particular project play in preventing, treating and/or curing diabetes? This project is to gain a better understanding of the role of type 2 diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome as well as male biological sex and race in increasing COVID-19 severity and mortality. Understanding why non-Hispanic black men with type 2 diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome have a greater risk of COVID-19 mortality is important, as it will provide novel approaches for the development of personalized diagnosis test, as well as health monitoring and preventive precision medicine strategies. If a person with diabetes were to ask you how your project will help them in the future, how would you respond? Understanding why with type 2 diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome produces have a greater risk of COVID-19 mortality is critical to provide novel approaches for the development of personalized diagnosis test, as well as health monitoring and preventive medicine strategies. Additionally, understanding the biological forces that protect women with type 2 diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome from COVID-19 severity and mortality compared to men will allow unique knowledge on the mechanism of this disease and help harness those forces to mitigate the severity of the disease. Why is it important for you, personally, to become involved in diabetes research? What role will this award play in your research efforts? I have spent my research career trying to understand the mechanism of type 2 diabetes and find new therapeutic approaches. I feel it is my duty as a diabetes researcher to use my knowledge of diabetes to help better understand and find novel therapeutic approaches to combat COVID-19. This award will open a new avenue of research in my effort to better understand to effect of diabetes and obesity on COVID-19 severity. In what direction do you see the future of diabetes research going? The future of diabetes research is that of precision medicine. Most specifically, I believe that characterizing difference between men and women in diabetes pathogenesis, manifestations, complications and response to treatment is fundamental to precision medicine and health equity.