The focus of the Gregg lab is to understand how early life nutrient stressors can program offspring risk for obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. We use both animal models and a human mother-infant cohort to understand the molecular events that set the stage for lifelong metabolic health. Our previous work helped establish the importance of early life for pancreatic beta-cell expansion. We are now studying the impact of nutrient stressors during the lactation period on the function of key tissues responsible for a coordinated response to glucose: the pancreatic islets, adipose tissue, and the liver. We also study the impact of maternal metabolic disease on lactation physiology.

Perinatal programming of adult metabolic disease
Nutritional alterations during the lactation period and lactational programming of metabolic disease
Impact of maternal metabolic health on lactation
Neonatal/childhood determinants of pancreatic beta-cell mass
Stimulus to burst of postnatal beta-cell replication