11 April 2007

Emerging science star exercised by diabetes problem

As an aerobics instructor, TV fitness presenter and a finalist in Japan’s National Aerobic Dance Competition, Kei Sakamoto knew that exercise brought health benefits. What he wanted to find out next was exactly how that exercise worked in bringing beneficial effects to people with diseases like Type 2 diabetes.

His work in exercise physiology eventually led him to the University of Dundee and has now gained him recognition from the American Physiological Society as one of the emerging stars in the field.

Kei, a Programme Leader in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit in the College of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee, has been selected to receive the New Investigator Award for 2007 from the Endocrinology and Metabolism Section of the American Physiological Society.

The prize of US$1000 plus free registration at the Society’s Annual Meeting "recognizes an outstanding investigator in the early stages of his/her career." Kei will receive the award and certificate of recognition on Monday April 30th 2007 in Washington DC.

Kei’s interest in exercise physiology was kindled 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 Dario, 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."

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