Auburn University holds the sixth annual Boshell Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases Research Day on Friday, March 1, at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center, bringing together experts from around the U.S. to present current topics related to diabetes and the role of obesity in its development. 

The meeting features research presentations throughout the day and evening. 

• Morris White, Harvard Medical School professor of pediatrics and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, will talk about hepatic insulin resistance and metabolic disease in the keynote presentation. White investigates the molecular basis of insulin signal transduction to understand the pathophysiology of diabetes and other disorders, including obesity, and cardiovascular and retinal diseases. 

• Anthony Ferrante, Dorothy and Daniel Silberberg Associate Professor of Medicine at Columbia University, will speak on the role of macrophages (cells) in obesity and weight loss. 

• Auburn University football great and two-time Super Bowl champion Kendall Simmons is the banquet speaker.  After leaving Auburn in 2002, Simmons was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, or in his case, type 1.5 or LADA – latent autoimmune diabetes in adulthood. Today Simmons travels the country promoting diabetes awareness, research, and advocacy. 

Registration for Research Day is $75 for Boshell program members and $125 for nonmembers.  Students and postdoctoral fellows may attend at no cost.   

The evening banquet with Kendall Simmons is open to the public, but seating is limited.  Tickets are $35 per person.  For information, a meeting schedule, and to purchase tickets online, visit auburndiabetes.com.

The Boshell Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases Research Program at Auburn University is dedicated to improving the lives of people with diabetes through world-class basic science investigation into the etiology and treatment of diabetes and other metabolic diseases. Robert L. Judd, associate professor of pharmacology at the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, serves as program chair. 

At Auburn, funds generated by the Boshell endowment enhance the university's research efforts to improve the lives of people as well as pets, which are also susceptible to diabetes, through investigation into the causes and treatment of diabetes and other metabolic diseases.