Emerging science star exercised by diabetes problem

A career as an aerobics instructor and TV fitness presenter sparked Kei Sakamoto's passion for exercise and the link between fitness and health. Last month, the young scientist was selected to receive the New Investigator Award 2007 from the Endocrinology and Metabolism Section of the American Physiological Society.

Kei, a Programme Leader in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit in the College of Life Sciences, first became interested in exercise physiology as an undergraduate when he was a finalist in the National Aerobic Dance Competition in Japan. Later he obtained a Master's degree specialising in exercise physiology, which stimulated him to understand the molecular signaling mechanisms by which exercise mediates its beneficial effects on type 2 diabetics.

"My interest in this field really was stimulated by exercise and aerobics," said Kei. "I was an aerobics teacher and hosting a fitness program on TV in Japan, so I knew the benefits it brought, and of course you are always hearing from doctors that exercise prevents obesity and keeps you fit and energetic."

"What I wanted to find out was how exercise `signals' muscle to consume excess energy by taking up glucose from the blood, and to burn fat, at the molecular level."

Kei completed his PhD work with Dr Laurie Goodyear at the Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School, where he learned molecular physiology of exercise and its impact on muscle and whole body metabolism. Kei then moved to Dundee to join Professor Dario Alessi's laboratory in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit as a postdoctoral researcher in 2003 to gain expertise in biochemistry and signal transduction and its relevance to human disease.

Working with Professor Alessi, Kei has provided evidence that a molecular signaling pathway known as LKB1-AMPK plays a key role in controlling energy balance and glucose uptake in muscle during exercise. He has been instrumental in setting up the Unit's Laboratory of Molecular Physiology and was recently promoted to Programme Leader by the Medical Research Council.

Commenting on the award, Kei said, "It is a great honour to receive such a prestigious award from the American Physiological Society. We are making every effort to set up a state-of-the-art molecular physiology laboratory within the Unit and it is our aim to attract more young and talented physiologists to Dundee."