Hershey Secures R01 Grant to Study Brain Health of Youth at Risk for T2D

Tamara Hershey, PhD, the  James S. McDonnell Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and director of the Neuroimaging Labs Research Center, secured an R01 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases titled “Brain Health Across the Metabolic Continuum in Youth at Risk for T2D.” The project will study youth across the spectrum of obesity and metabolic dysfunction with MRI, cognitive and metabolic tests.

This approach will allow Hershey’s team to determine the relationship of key features of T2D risk (e.g. obesity, insulin resistance, insulin deficiency and dysglycemia) to intermediate changes that pose a risk for the brain (e.g. inflammation), leading to reduced brain structure and function associated with T2D in youth.