Current Position
Assistant Professor
History
Dr. Vern Dolinsky joined MICH in the summer of 2011, and it has been incredibly busy ever since. Moving from Edmonton, purchasing a house, establishing a new lab and writing grants are a major task for anyone, but Dr. Dolinsky wants to thank the administrative, academic and technical staff at MICH that have helped the transition go very smoothly. In addition, he reports that the access to the shared facilities and equipment at MICH has allowed him to hit the ground running and begin experimentation almost immediately. Dr. Dolinsky is a member of MICH’s newest research theme focused on Diabetes and Complications in Youth. This summer he has been working with Mr. Kyle Cheung and Mr. Troy Pereira to establish the lab and study mechanisms involved in the developmental origin of diabetes.
Born- The Pas, MB
BSc (Hons) Biochemistry, University of Manitoba; MSc Biochemistry, University of Manitoba; PhD Biochemistry, University of Alberta
Post-doctoral fellow, Physiology, University of Michigan- I worked with rodent models of diabetes, obesity and the metabolic syndrome
Post-doctoral fellow, Pediatrics/Pharmacology, University of Alberta- I trained in the Cardiovascular Research Centre and worked with rodent models of cardiovascular disease and obesity/insulin resistance.
I held fellowships from the American Diabetes Association, Heart and Stroke Foundation and Alberta Heritage Medical Research Foundation.
I was very humbled to receive the Francis X. Witkowski Award for Outstanding and Original Publication by a biomedical trainee at the University of Alberta in 2009. This award annually recognizes an outstanding high impact publication for the original scientific findings was in recognition of the manuscript entitled: "Resveratrol prevents the pro-hypertrophic effects of oxidative stress on LKB1."
Dolinsky et al., published in Circulation 119: 1643-52 (2009).
Research Focus:
My research is focused on the mechanisms that predispose youth for the development of obesity, diabetes and related cardiovascular disorders.
The World Health Organization estimated that 17 million people die annually from cardiovascular diseases (CVD) globally, more than from any other cause of death. In the U.S., CVD accounts for 1 in 3 of all deaths. Of significant concern is the growing number of individuals who are overweight or obese, since diseases such as diabetes are associated with obesity. Currently, 150 million individuals in the U.S. are overweight and 18 million have been diagnosed with diabetes as well as a further 7 million have undiagnosed diabetes, representing a total of approximately 11% of the population. Obesity and diabetes are important predictors of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, particularly left ventricular hypertrophy, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure and renal failure. This is particularly important in light of the fact that the rising incidence of overweight and obese children that are developing diabetes presents a significant clinical problem for the future.
Therefore, my research examines whether complications during pregnancy and a poor diet after birth increase the risk for early-onset obesity, diabetes and CVD in the offspring of complicated pregnancies. One of the most common complications during pregnancy is gestational diabetes (GDM), which results in high blood sugar in pregnant mothers, which returns to normal following delivery of the baby. My research explores the biological processes that cause children from pregnancies complicated by GDM to be at higher risk for obesity, diabetes and heart disease later in life. I am currently developing animal models to study this phenomenon. This project involves molecular biology approaches to study the fundamental mechanisms that program whole body energy homeostasis during pregnancy. This research also involves testing pharmacologic interventions and gene therapies to treat these metabolic disorders both during pregnancy and following birth. Working as an interdisciplinary team with population health researchers and clinicians at the Manitoba Institute of Child Health, we hope that the outcome of these experiments will be new treatments and better follow-up care for both mothers and children.
For a list of recent publications click here and search for Vernon Dolinsky.
