Past Pilot & Feasibility Award Winners

*Names in red are current Joslin Investigators. You can view their bio by clicking on the link.

Principal Investigator	Applicant Institution	Dates of Award	Pilot Project Title
Albert Edge, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1986-87	Studies on carbohydrates of the insulin receptor
Richard Jackson, MD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1986-87	T cell receptor and MHC genes
Elefteria Maratos-Flier, MD	Beth Israel Deaconess Med Ctr	1987-89	Effect of reovirus infection on gene expression
Morris White, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1987-89	Relation between the insulin receptor and pp 60src in hepatoma cells
Steve Rabinowe, MD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1987-88	The presence and significance of antiadrenal medullary antibodies in type 1 diabetes mellitus
Raymonde Dumont (née Herskowitz) M.D.	Joslin Diabetes Center	1987-88	Transient hyperglycemia in children
Mary Loeken, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1988-90	Transcriptional control by insulin during myogenesis
Masakazu Hattori, MD, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1988-90	Islet T-lymphocyte clones of type 1 diabetes patients
Barry Goldstein,MD, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1989-91	Molecular cloning of the rat insulin receptor cDNA
Barbara Widom, MD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1989-90	Mechanism of weight gain during intensive insulin therapy
Barbara Anderson, William Polonsky PhD, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1990-91	Clinical and subclinical eating disorders in female patients with diabetes
Christopher Rhodes, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1990-92	The endopeptidic processing of insulin receptor
Steven Shoelson, MD, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1991-92	YMXM motifs, SH2 domains and insulin action
Heimo Riedel,PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1991-93	A genetic screen for receptor-substrate/ligand binding
Peter Arvan, MD, PhD	Beth Israel Deaconess Med Ctr	1991-93	Secretory protein targeting in pancreatic B-cells
Myra Lipes, MD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1992-94	Genetic dissection of T cell requirements for autoimmune diabetes
Mary Loeken, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1993-95	The search for genes that cause diabetic embryopathy
Lloyd-Paul Aiello, MD, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1993-95	Role of vascular endothelial growth factor in diabetic retinopathy
Laurie Goodyear, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1993-95	Molecular mechanisms of skeletal muscle insulin resistance
Gokhan Hotamisligil, MD, PhD	Harvard School of Public Health	1995-97	Role of TNF receptors in obesity and insulin resistance
Alessandro Doria, MD, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1994-96	Screening for mutations at the Rad locus, a candidate gene for NIDDM
Bentley Cheatham, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	9/1995 - 11/1996	Role of Rab proteins in Glut4 translocation
Elefteria Maratos-Flier, MD	Joslin Diabetes Center	12/1995 - 11/1997	MCH: A novel regulator of feeding behavior
Lori Laffel, MD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1/1996 - 11/1996	Pregnancy and diabetic nephropathy in women with IDDM
Arun Sharma, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	12/1996 - 11/1998	Cloning of an insulin gene transcription factor, RIPE3b1
Mary Elizabeth Patti, MD	Joslin Diabetes Center	12/1996 - 11/1998	Novel mechanisms for nutrient regulation of insulin action
Martin Myers, MD, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	12/1997 - 11/1999	Role of Leptin receptor signaling pathways in physiology
Robert Stanton, MD	Joslin Diabetes Center	10/1998 - 9/2000	Glucose 6-P dehydrogenase and apoptosis in diabetes
Christian Bjorbaek, PhD	Beth Israel Deaconess Med Ctr	10/1999 - 9/2001	Role of PIAS proteins in Leptin signaling and Leptin resistance
Deborah Burks, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	10/1999 - 9/2000	The Role of IRS-2 in endocrine vascular function
Alessandro Doria, MD, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	6/2000 - 5/2002	Functional complementation of insulin-resistance genes
Tihamer Orban, MD	Joslin Diabetes Center	6/2000 - 5/2002	Autoantigen vaccination in human type 1 diabetes mellitus
Lucia Rameh, PhD	Beth Israel Deaconess Med Ctr	6/2000 - 5/2002	PIP4kllb role in glucose homeostasis and insulin resistance
Mark Anderson, MD, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	8/2002 - 8/2003	Genetic analysis of the AIRE gene in type 1 DM
Young-Bum Kim, PhD	Beth Israel Deaconess Med Ctr	8/2002 - 7/2004	The potential role of the long-form of the leptin receptor in adipocytes.
Rohit Kulkarni, MD, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	8/2002 - 7/2004	Role of insulin receptors in islet alpha cell function
Gail Adler, MD, PhD	Brigham and Women's Hospital	8/2003 - 7/2005	Aldosterone and vascular disease in diabetes.
Sirano Dhe-Paganon, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	8/2003 - 7/2005	Structural determination of PKC and drug mapping
Jongsoon Lee, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	8/2003 - 7/2005	Role of GSK3b in fat cell differentiation
Medha Munshi, MD	Joslin Diabetes Center	8/2004 - 7/2008	Executive dysfunction in older diabetic patients
Shannon Turley, PhD	Dana-Farber Cancer Institute	8/2004 - 7/2006	The capture of dying beta cells by dendritic cells
Edward Feener, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	3/2005 - 2/2006	Ion Trap LC-MS/MS quantitation of peptides in vitreous humor
Timothy Graham, MD, PhD	Beth Israel Deaconess Med Ctr	8/2005 - 7/2007	RBP4 & maternal transmission of insulin resistance
Gail Musen, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	8/2005 - 7/2007	Functional correlates of gray matter changes in diabetes
Alan Davidson, PhD	Mass General Hospital	8/2006 - 7/2008	Zebrafish model of diabetic nephropathy
Amy Wagers, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	8/2006 - 7/2008	Circulating factors in diabetic wound healing
Erin Kershaw, MD	Beth Israel Deaconess Med Ctr	8/2007 - 7/2009	In Vivo role of adiponutrin in metabolic and energy homeostasis
Christian Rask-Madsen, MD, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	8/2007 - 7/2009	Role of PKC in diabetic retinopathy
Lloyd Paul Aiello, MD, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	8/2008 - 7/2010	Why do retinal vessels break through the ILM in PDR?
Josef Michael Kurtz, PhD	Mass. General Hospital	9/2008 - 8/2010	Characterization of diabetogenic CD4 cells in T1D
Giulio Romeo, MD	Joslin Diabetes Center	8/2008 - 7/2010	Profilin-1 in diet-induced insulin resistance
Michael Zeisberg, MD	Beth Israel Deaconess Med Ctr	8/2008 - 7/2009	Epigenetics of diabetic nephropathy
Sudha Biddinger, MD, PhD	Boston Children's Hospital	8/2009 - 7/2011	Defects in insulin signaling in the metabolic syndrome
Ho-Jin Koh, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	8/2009 - 7/2011	TRB3 modulates glucose-lipid metabolism in skeletal muscle
Libin Liu, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	8/2009 - 7/2011	Macrophage Cpe causes obesity in fatty fa/fa mice
Raul Mostoslavsky, MD, PhD	Mass. General Hospital	8/2009 - 7/2011	SIRT6 controls glucose homeostasis
Jennifer Sun, MD	Joslin Diabetes Center	8/2010 - 7/2012	Predicting treatment response in diabetic macular edema
Janice Zabolotny, PhD	Beth Israel Deaconess Med Ctr	8/2010 - 7/2012	Mechanisms to improve wound healing in diabetes
Jason Gaglia, MD	Joslin Diabetes Center	8/2011 - 7/2013	Imaging Islet-Antigen reactive peripheral T cells
Monika Niewczas, MD, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	8/2011 - 7/2013	Regulation of circulating sTNF receptors in diabetes
Aaron Cypess, MD, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1/2013 - 12/2014	β3-Adrenergic receptor agonists on human brown adipose tissue
Stephan Kissler, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1/2013 - 12/2014	How TAGAP variation impacts T cell migration in type 1 diabetes
F.M. Fisher, PhD	Beth Israel Deaconess Med Ctr	1/2014 - 12/2015	FGF21 induced white adipose tissue browning
Jongsoon Lee, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1/2014 - 12/2015	The role of adipose tissue foam cells in lipid homeostasis and inflammation
Thomas Serwold, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1/2015 - 12/2016	Antigen spreading in the initiation of type 1 diabetes
Norbert Perrimon, PhD	Harvard Medical School	1/2015 - 12/2016	Activin regulation of glucagon action: a novel therapeutic opportunity for type 2 diabetes
Lijun Sun, PhD	Beth Israel Deaconess Med Ctr	1/2015 - 12/2016	Targeting activated mast cells in diabetic foot ulcers
Peng Yi, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1/2016 - 12/2017	A CRISPR-Cas9 screening for genes regulating pancreatic beta cell proliferation
Ashley Vernon, MD	Brigham and Women's Hospital	1/2016 - 12/2017	Human adipose tissue microbiome in type 2 diabetes
Thomas McElrath, MD, PhD	Brigham and Women's Hospital	1/2017 - 12/2018	Circulating SerpinB1 and vulnerability to gestational diabetes
Sarah Lessard, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1/2017 - 12/2018	Mechanisms of exercise resistance in diabetes
Cristina Aguayo- Mazzucato, MD, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	1/2018 - 12/2019	Induction of beta-cell senescence by high-fat diet and implications for diabetes
Eyal Dassau, PhD	Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences	1/2018 - 12/2019	Can technology improve self-care in youth with Type-1 Diabetes?
Stephen Liberles, PhD	Harvard Medical School	4/2018 - 3/2020	The impact of vagal nutrient-sensing neurons on systemic metabolism
Amy Wagers, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	4/2018 - 3/2020	Hematologic mutations as potential predictors of diabetic complications
Sirano Dhe-Paganon, PhD	Dana-Farber Cancer Institute	5/2019 - 4/2021	Structural basis of XOR activation in obesity and metabolic syndrome
Aleksandar Kostic, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	5/2019 - 4/2021	Designing and testing novel probiotic strategies to curtail glycemic excursion
Matthew Lynes, PhD	Joslin Diabetes Center	7/2020 - 6/2022	Genetic determinants of 12, 13-diHOME biosynthesis in human obesity
Linus Tzu-Yen Tsai MD, PhD	Beth Israel Deaconess Med Ctr	7/2020 - 6/2022	The role of interferon regulatory factors in tanycytes during HFD-induced inflammation, obesity and glucose dysregulation
Ismail Sayed, PhD	Beth Israel Deaconess Med Ctr	4/2021-3/2023	Effects of novel lipids on on the NLRP3 inflammasome and impact on diabetogenesis in NOD model
Daniel Zeve, MD, PhD	Boston Children’s Hospital	4/2021-3/2023	Use of human enteroids/organoids to induce K and L enteroendocrine cells that appropriately respond to nutrients in vitro and in vivo.