The University of Iowa has appointed E. Dale Abel, M.D., D.Phil., as the new director of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. Abel will also hold the John B. Stokes III Chair in Diabetes Research. His appointment was effective June 30.
The center was established through a $25 million gift commitment from the Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE) in 2008, and will be housed within the UI Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building, which is currently under construction on the UI health sciences campus. As director of the FOE Diabetes Research Center, Abel will be responsible for recruiting and mentoring world-class faculty, and developing clinical, research, and academic programs of excellence.
Abel joins the UI from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, where he was chief of the Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes division, and professor of medicine and biochemistry.
"We are excited that Dr. Abel has accepted this vital leadership position," says Debra Schwinn, M.D., dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine. "Dr. Abel is a renowned diabetes expert, a skilled physician, and innovative researcher. His impressive background and experience coupled with his ability to develop and lead interdisciplinary teams and mentor young clinician scientists make him the perfect fit to lead our diabetes research center."
In addition to his leadership role for the FOE Diabetes Research Center, Abel also will be a professor of internal medicine, and chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, and will hold a joint appointment as professor of biochemistry in the UI Carver College of Medicine. He will also serve as head of the interdisciplinary Diabetes Clinic located at UI Hospitals and Clinics—Iowa River Landing.
"Dr. Abel is uniquely positioned to fulfill a key mission of our university by connecting basic science discoveries from the FOE Diabetes Research Center with cutting-edge clinical care and education to improve the health of Iowans and patients suffering from diabetes in the United States and worldwide," says Mark Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., chair and department executive officer of internal medicine and director of the UI Cardiovascular Center.
Abel will replace Daryl Granner, M.D., who was founding director of the FOE Diabetes Research Center. Granner will remain on the faculty as advisor to Abel in his capacity as Founding Director Emeriti.
"We are extremely grateful for Dr. Granner's leadership in helping develop the vision and establish the infrastructure for the FOE Diabetes Research Center," says Jean Robillard, M.D., vice president for medical affairs at the UI. "In Dr. Abel we have an exceptional leader to build on that foundation and ensure that the FOE Diabetes Research Center becomes a world-class, comprehensive diabetes research center."
Abel is internationally recognized for his research on the molecular mechanisms responsible for cardiac dysfunction in obesity, type 2 diabetes, and type 1 diabetes, and for studies of the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in the development of insulin resistance, obesity, and its complications. His research is actively funded by the National Institutes of Health and other agencies, and his work also has been supported by the American Diabetes Association, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the American Heart Association.
Abel received a medical degree from the University of West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. He was a Rhodes Scholar and Clinical Research Fellow with Professor John G. Ledingham at the University of Oxford, England, where he also earned a D.Phil. (Ph.D.) in physiology. He completed an internship and residency in medicine at McGraw Medical Center, Northwestern University Medical School, and served as chief resident of Internal Medicine at the VA Lakeside Medical Center there. He was a clinical and research fellow and instructor at Harvard Medical School before joining the faculty at University of Utah in 2000.
In the course of his career, Abel has received numerous national honors and awards, and has been a lecturer and visiting professor in the U.S. and internationally. He is primary or co-author or editor on more than 140 scientific publications.