Newswise — Andrew Fyfe Stewart, MD, a renowned expert in endocrinology and diabetes research, will join The Mount Sinai Medical Center as Director of the Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism Institute on November 1. Through interdisciplinary translational research collaborations, the Metabolism Institute focuses on understanding the basic mechanisms involved in metabolic diseases, mainly diabetes and obesity, and aims to develop and promote prevention and treatment programs for those conditions.

Dr. Stewart’s research focuses on understanding and developing novel means for inducing the replication and regeneration of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells, loss of which is linked to both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. As director of the Metabolism Institute at Mount Sinai, he and his research team will study the basic mechanisms involved in metabolic diseases and develop therapies to prevent and cure the conditions. He will also oversee the continued expansion of the Institute through the recruitment of additional national experts.

“Diabetes and obesity are epidemics in this country and Mount Sinai is at the forefront of addressing this health crisis with experts in immunology, the central nervous system, bariatric surgery, and public health, to name just a few,” said Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs of The Mount Sinai Medical Center. “Our mission is nothing less than discovering the causes and better treatments for diabetes and obesity. The addition of Andrew Stewart and his world-class team of researchers will greatly enhance our ability to reach this goal.”

“We are certain Dr. Stewart’s appointment will launch a new era of diabetes research at Mount Sinai,” said Yaron Tomer, MD, FACP, Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease in the Department of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. “Under his leadership we will continue to advance the application of clinical and basic research towards developing new therapies for type 1 and type 2 diabetes.”

As Chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Dr. Stewart and his research team were the first to demonstrate that adult human beta cells can be induced to replicate at substantial rates. Three long-time colleagues from that group will join him at Mount Sinai: Donald K. Scott, PhD, Adolfo García-Ocaña, PhD, and Rupangi Chhaya Vasavada, PhD, as faculty in the Department of Medicine (Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease) and as members of the interdisciplinary Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism Institute.

“Mount Sinai is on the cutting edge of big biology and is expanding at a time when many other institutions are downsizing,” said Dr. Stewart, who will also be a Professor with tenure in the Department of Medicine’s Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease. “This is an exciting time in science and my team is thrilled to round out Mount Sinai’s existing diabetes research with our expertise in beta cells.”

Dr. Stewart has led a career devoted to patient care and basic and clinical research in endocrinology and diabetes research for more than 30 years. He received his bachelor’s degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, his MD from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York, and served as a fellow in Endocrinology and Metabolism at Yale University School of Medicine in Connecticut. Most recently he served as the Chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the Co-Director of the University of Pittsburgh Diabetes Institute.

Dr. Stewart has received numerous honors, including Councilor of both the Endocrine Society as well as the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR), Secretary-Treasurer of the Endocrine Society, and Chair of the Program Committee for the American Diabetes Association. He has published more than 230 scientific papers in journals, including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, The New England Journal of Medicine, and Science. Dr. Stewart is the continuous recipient of numerous research grants for the past 30 years. He currently has strong support from the National Institutes of Health, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and other agencies. He was the 2008 recipient of the Endocrine Society’s Gerald Aurbach Award for outstanding scientific achievement. He served as the Chair of the American Diabetes Association Annual Meetings for 2010 and 2011.

About The Mount Sinai Medical Center

The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Established in 1968, Mount Sinai School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the United States. The Medical School is noted for innovation in education, biomedical research, clinical care delivery, and local and global community service. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 14 research institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and by U.S. News & World Report.

The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation’s oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. In 2012, U.S. News & World Report ranked The Mount Sinai Hospital 14th on its elite Honor Roll of the nation’s top hospitals based on reputation, safety, and other patient-care factors. Mount Sinai is one of 12 integrated academic medical centers whose medical school ranks among the top 20 in NIH funding and by U.S. News & World Report and whose hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 560,000 outpatient visits took place.

For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/. Find Mount Sinai on: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mountsinainycTwitter @mountsinainycYouTube: http://www.youtube.com/mountsinainy

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