Carol B. McFerran Chair in Juvenile Diabetes Research
School of Medicine
Paul N. Epstein, Ph.D., is a professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Pharmacology/Toxicology and a professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. He also serves as director of Juvenile Diabetes Research.
Epstein leads a research team that focuses on the causes and complications of diabetes. He and his colleagues have identified genes that protect insulin-producing cells from toxins and the heart from diabetes-induced cardiac failure. He was the first to demonstrate that blood glucose is maintained by a single reaction in the pancreatic beta cell and has developed the most accurate model of diabetes for the study of diabetic complications. Epstein's research is supported by National Institutes of Health grants that total more than $2 million.
Epstein has published more than 70 peer-reviewed manuscripts in high-impact journals such as Cell, Journal of Clinical Investigations, Diabetes and the Journal of Biological Chemistry. He is a study section member for the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
At U of L, Epstein guides the study of several doctoral and postdoctoral students in pharmacology and toxicology and physiology. He also has been named a Distinguished University Scholar, an honor given to faculty members who demonstrate nationally recognized creativity and scholarship in their field of expertise. Earlier in his career he received a National Research Service Award and a Juvenile Diabetes Career Development Award.
Epstein, a native of Waltham, Mass., earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Hartford and a doctorate in pharmacology from Baylor College of Medicine.