Graduate student Cheryl Danton has co-authored a paper published in the Oct. 15, 2007, issue of The Journal of Immunology.
The paper discusses how inflammation causes abnormalities in metabolism resulting from systemic release of cytokines, which are proteins secreted by cells in the immune system. An early response to this is hyperglycemia and resistance to insulin in people with Type II diabetes, which progresses over time to increased glucose absorption in peripheral tissue. The paper is titled "Proinflammatory Cytokine Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor Regulates Glucose Metabolism during Systemic Inflammation."
Dr. Jason Kim was the principal investigator of the paper, which involved laboratory research with transgenic mice. Co-authors included scientists from Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan; J.G. Brown Cancer Center at the University of Louisville; North-Shore Long Jewish Research Institute in Manhasset, N.Y.; and Yale School of Medicine.
"It's unusual for a graduate student at the master's level to co-author a scientific paper with established scientists from various other institutions," said Kenneth Kaloustian, director of the master of health science program and Danton's academic adviser. "This reflects how highly these scientists regard Cheryl and her contributions to this publication."
Danton was a student in Kim's Biology 101 course during her freshman year. She worked with Kim as a research technician for two years as an undergraduate student when Kim was at Yale School of Medicine. This is the third full-text article the two have published together. The other two were published in the journal Diabetes in 2005.
"I enjoyed working on this project because it gave me an invaluable amount of experience of what it is like to work in the area of biomedical research," Danton said. "It has also given me a wealth of knowledge and skills that have helped me in the classroom as well as with my current research with Dr. Bombace."
Joan Bombace, director of psychobiology at Quinnipiac, is Danton's thesis adviser. Danton is working toward a master's degree in biomedical sciences. She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Quinnipiac in 2006.