Robert H. Coker, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) Facility within the Nutrition, Metabolism, and Exercise Laboratory (NMEL) in the Department of Geriatrics. Dr. Coker’s research interests are focused on the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and the most effective therapeutic regimens to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes. It is well known that insulin resistance develops in several tissues in persons with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and that these persons are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Unfortunately, we do not have a clear understanding of the specific influence of weight loss and/or exercise training on hepatic and peripheral insulin resistance. In order to clearly delineate the potential effectiveness of these interventions, Dr. Coker is conducting studies based on the hypotheses that 1) visceral adipose tissue must be reduced to alleviate hepatic insulin resistance, and that 2) excess adipose tissue plays a role in altered fuel metabolism in the skeletal muscle through abnormalities in the adiponectin-adenosine 5’-monophosphate-activated protein kinase axis. By testing these hypotheses, Dr. Coker will be able to delineate the mechanisms selectively responsible for the pathogenesis of insulin resistance.
Dr. Coker is also a driving force behind the development of a GCMS facility that has successfully allowed the completion of collaborative projects whereby plasma glucose enrichments, and mitochondrial, myofibrillar, and sarcoplasmic phenyalanine enrichments have been analyzed to calculate hepatic glucose production and skeletal muscle protein synthesis rates, respectively. This facility represents an extremely valuable resource in the study of metabolism through stable isotope methodology.
Hays, NP, Starling RD, Sullivan DH, Trappe TA, Fluckey JD, Coker RH, Evans WJ. Insulin mediated glucose disposal in response to an ad libitum, low-fat, high-complex-carbohydrate diet and aerobic exercise training in older men and women. J. Clin. Endo. Metab., submitted, 2004.
Hays NP, Starling RD, Sullivan DH, Trappe TA, Fluckey JD, Coker RH, Evans WJ. Lack of agreement of insulin sensitivity assessment indices with euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp data following a dietary and exercise intervention in older adults. J. Clin. Endo. Meta., submitted, 2004.
Coker, RH, and M Kjaer, Role of the neuroendocrine system in glucoregulation during exercise in health and disease, Sports Med., in press, 2004.
Camacho, R, Lacy, DB, Coker, RH, and DH Wasserman, Hepatic glucose autoregulation: responses to small non-insulin-induced changes in arterial glucose, Am. J. Physiol., in press, 2004.
