Barbara B. Kahn, M.D., is the recipient of the American Diabetes Association’s 2016 Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement.
The Banting Medal recognizes outstanding, long-term contributions to the understanding, treatment or prevention of diabetes. Dr. Kahn will be recognized with this honor during the Association’s 76th Scientific Sessions®, June 10-14, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. She will deliver the Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement Lecture, titled “Adipose Tissue, Inter-Organ Communication, and the Path to Type 2 Diabetes,” on Sunday, June 12.
“I am thrilled to receive this honor which I feel recognizes the creativity and talent of the many trainees and collaborators who have been integral to the discoveries in my laboratory. In the next decade, we will focus on how these advances can be moved into the clinical care arena to establish new prevention and treatment strategies for people with diabetes,” said Dr. Kahn, who grew up in Kansas City and graduated from The Barstow School. She has family here, including her mother and two brothers, nieces and nephews, and she visits several times a year.
Currently the George Minot Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Vice Chair for Research Strategy in the Department of Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Dr. Kahn is a world-renowned physician-scientist who has made seminal contributions to understanding the molecular pathogenesis of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Kahn’s research has greatly advanced our understanding of the cellular and molecular underpinnings that make obesity a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. In particular, she has been a pioneer in identifying mechanisms by which adipocytes communicate with other tissues to regulate systemic insulin sensitivity. Her major discoveries include the surprising role of adipose glucose transporters as key regulators of adipokine secretion, including retinol binding protein 4, and a novel class of insulin-sensitizing, anti-inflammatory lipids that also stimulate GLP-1 and insulin secretion. This research has been foundational in establishing the concept of adipose tissue as an endocrine organ and forms the basis for several ongoing pharmaceutical projects aimed at developing new therapies for diabetes. Kahn has also performed critical studies demonstrating that AMP-activated-protein-kinase is a key component in systemic fuel metabolism, work that has led to additional drug development programs. In addition to her pioneering research, Dr. Kahn is an active physician who ranks in the top 1 percent of U.S. doctors in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism.
“Dr. Kahn’s extraordinary work has led the way for novel strategies to prevent and treat obesity and type 2 diabetes,” said Desmond Schatz, M.D., president, Medicine & Science for the American Diabetes Association. “Congratulations, Dr. Kahn for your transformational leadership in shaping our fundamental understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of obesity and type 2 diabetes.”