Evan Dale Abel, M.D., PhD

E. Dale Abel, M.D., Ph.D. is Chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of Utah School of Medicine. He was recruited to the University of Utah in 2000 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry in 2004, and Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry in 2008. Before that Dr. Abel was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and co-Director of the Endocrinology Fellowship Program at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

Dr. Abel received his Medical Degree with Distinction from the University of the West Indies. He then attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, where he obtained his D.Phil in the Nuffield Department of Medicine. After his doctoral studies, Dr. Abel completed internal medicine residency training at Northwestern University in Chicago where he served as Chief Medical Resident, then moved to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School for training in Endocrinology.  He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology.

Dr. Abel’s current research interests focus on elucidating the molecular mechanisms leading to cardiac dysfunction in diabetes and the regulation of myocardial growth and metabolism by insulin signaling. Dr. Abel has been the recipient of numerous scholastic honors, including Established Investigator of the American Heart Association and election to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2004.

EDUCATION

1985 MB.BS., Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica
1991 D.Phil, (Medicine) Clinical Medicine Faculty, University of Oxford,                      Oxford University, United Kingdom


TRAINING

1993 – 1995 FELLOWSHIP, Research Fellow in Endocrinology, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, MA
1992 – 1993 FELLOWSHIP, Clinical Fellow in Endocrinology, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
1991 - 1992 Chief Medical Resident, Internal Medicine, VA Lakeside Medical Center, NUMS, Chicago, Illinois
1989 - 1991 RESIDENCY, Internal Medicine, McGaw Medical Center, NUMS, Chicago, Illinois
1988 – 1989 INTERNSHIP, McGaw Medical Center, Northwestern University Medical School (NUMS), Chicago, Illinois


RESEARCH INTERESTS

Cardiac dysfunction in diabetes
Regulation of myocardial growth and metabolism by insulin signaling

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

  1. Rui T, Feng Q, Lei M, Peng T, Zhang J, Xu M, Abel ED, Xenocostas A, Kvietys PR. Erythropoietin prevents the acute myocardial inflammatory response induced by ischemia/reperfusion in vitro and in vivo: role of AP-1. 2005. Cardiovascular Research.  65:719-727.
  2. Leone TC, Lehman JJ, Finck BN, Schaeffer PJ, Wende AR, Boudina S, Courtois M, Wozniak DF, Sambandam N, Bernal-Mizrachi C, Chen Z, Holloszy JO, Medeiros DM, Schmidt RE, Saffitz JE, Abel ED, Semenkovich CF, Kelly DP. PGC-1 deficient mice exhibit multi-system energy metabolic derangements: muscle dysfunction, abnormal   weight control and hepatic steatosis. 2005. PLOS Biology 3(4)e101.
  3. Durgan DJ, Hotze MA, Tomlin TM, Egbejimi O, Gravelelau G, Abel ED, Shaw CA, Bray MS, Hardin PE, Young ME. The intrinsic circadian clock within the cardiomyocyte. 2005 American Journal of Physiology. 289:H1530-1541.
  4. Graveleau C, Zaha VG, Mohajer A, Banerjee RR, Dudley-Rucker N, Steppan CM, Rajala MW, Scherer PE, Ahima RS, Scherer PS, Lazar MA, Abel ED. Mouse and human resistin impair glucose transport in primary mouse cardiomyocytes and oligomerization is required for this biological action. 2005. J. Biol Chem. 280:31679-31685.
  5. Buchanan J, Mazumder PK, Hu P, Chakrabarti G, Roberts MW, Yun UJ, Cooksey RC, Litwin SE, Abel ED. Reduced cardiac efficiency and altered substrate metabolism precedes the onset of hyperglycemia and contractile dysfunction in two mouse models of insulin resistance and obesity.2005. Endocrinology146:5341-5349.
  6. McQueen AP, Zhang D, Hu P, Swenson L, Yang Y, Zaha VG, Hoffman JL, Yun UJ, Chakrabarti G, Wang Z, Albertine KH, Abel ED*, Litwin SE*.  Contractile dysfunction in hypertrophied hearts with deficient insulin receptor signaling: possible role of reduced capillary density. 2005. J. Molecular and Cellular Cardiology.39:882-892 (* Corresponding authors)
  7. Boudina S, Sena S, O’Neill BT, Tathireddy P, Young ME, Abel ED. Reduced mitochondrial oxidative capacity and increased mitochondrial uncoupling impairs myocardial energetics in obesity. 2005. Circulation.112:2686-2695.
  8. Augustus AS, Buchanan J, Park TS, Hirata K, Noh HL, Sun J, Homma S, D'armiento J, Abel ED, Goldberg IJ. Loss of lipoprotein lipase-derived fatty acids leads to increased cardiac glucose metabolism and heart dysfunction. 2006. J Biol Chem. 281:8716-8723
  9. Durgan DJ, Smith JK, Hotze MA, Egbejimi O, Cuthbert KD, Zaha VG, Dyck JR, Abel ED, Young ME. Distinct Transcriptional Regulation of Long-Chain Acyl-CoA Synthetase Isoforms and Cytosolic Thioesterase 1 in the Rodent Heart by Fatty Acids and Insulin. 2006.   Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 290:H2480-2497.
  10. Buerger A, Rozhitskaya O, Sherwood MC, Dorfman AL, Bisping E, Abel ED, Pu W, Izumo S, Jay, P.Y. Dilated cardiomyopathy resulting from high-level myocardial expression of Cre-recombinase. 2006. J. Cardiac Failure. 12:392-398.
  11. Lelliot CJ, Medina-Gomez G, Petrovic N, Kis A, Feldmann HM, Bjursell M, Parker N, Curtis K, Campbell M, Hu P, Zhang D, Litwin SE, Zaha VG, Fountain KT, Boudina S, Jimenez-Linan M, Bloun M, Lopez M, Meirhaeghe A, Bohlooly M, Storlien L, Strömstedt M, Snaith M, Ore M, Abel ED, Cannon B, Vidal-Puig A. Ablation of PGC-1beta results in defective mitochondrial activity, thermogenesis, hepatic function and cardiac performance. 2006. PLoS Biology. 4(11):e369.
  12. Sano M, Izumi Y, Helenius K, Asakura M, Rossi DJ, Xie M, Taffet G, Hu L, Pautler RG, Wilson CR, Boudina S, Abel ED, Taegtmeyer H, Scaglia F, Graham BH, Kralli A, Shimizu N, Tanaka H, Makela TP, Schneider MD. Menage-a-trois 1 is critical for the transcriptional function of PPARgamma coactivator 1. Cell Metabolism. 2007: 5:129-142.
  13. Boudina S, Sena S, Theobald H, Sheng X, Wright JJ, Hu XX, Aziz S, Johnson JI, Bugger H, Zaha VG, Abel ED. Mitochondrial energetics in the heart in obesity related diabetes: Direct evidence for increased uncoupled respiration and activation of uncoupling proteins. 2007: Diabetes 56(10):2457-66.
  14. Sena S, Rasmussen IR, Wende AR, McQueen AP, Theobald HA, Wilde N, Pereira RO, Litwin SE, Berger JP, Abel ED  Cardiac Hypertrophy Caused by Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor-Gamma Agonist Treatment Occurs Independently of Changes in Myocardial Insulin Signaling. 2007: Endocrinology 148:6047-53
  15. Hao HX, Cardon CM, Swiatek W, Cooksey RC, Smith TL, Wilde J, Boudina S, Abel ED, McClain DA, Rutter J PAS kinase is required for normal cellular energy balance. 2007: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104(39):15466-71.
  16. Benjamin IJ, Guo Y, Srinivasan S, Boudina S, Taylor R, Rajasekaran NS, Gottlieb RA, Wawrousek E, Abel ED, Bolli R  CRYAB and HSPB2 deficiency alters cardiac metabolism and paradoxically confers protection against myocardial ischemia in aging mice. 2007 Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 293(5):H3201-3209.
  17. O'Neill BT, Kim J, Wende AR, Theobald HA, Tuinei J, Buchanan J, Guo A, Zaha VG, Davis DK, Schell JC, Boudina S, Wayment B, Litwin SE, Shioi T, Izumo S, Birnbaum MJ, Abel ED. A conserved role for phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase but not Akt signaling in mitochondrial adaptations that accompany physiological cardiac hypertrophy. 2007: Cell Metabolism. 6(4):294-306.
  18. Bray MS, Shaw CA, Moore MW, Garcia RA, Zanquetta MM, Durgan DJ, Jeong WJ, Tsai JY, Bugger H, Zhang D, Rohrwasser A, Rennison JH, Dyck JR, Litwin SE, Hardin PE, Chow CW, Chandler MP, Abel ED, Young ME. Disruption of the circadian clock within the cardiomyocyte influences myocardial contractile function, metabolism and gene expression. 2008: Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 294(2): H1036-47
  19. Yin Z, Jones G, Towns WH, Zhang X, Abel ED, Binkley PF, Jarjoura D, Kirschner LS. Heart-specific ablation of Prkar1a causes failure of heart development and myxomagenesis. 2008: Circulation. 117:1414-22.
  20. Amiott EA, Lott P, Soto J, Kang PB, M.D McCaffery JM, DiMauro S, Abel ED, Flanigan KM, Lawson VH, Shaw JM. Mitochondrial Fusion and Function in Charcot-Marie-Tooth Type 2AFibroblasts with Mitofusin 2 Mutations. Experimental Neurology, 2008. 211:115-27
  21. Jouihan HA, Cobine PA, Hoagland EA, Boudina S, Abel ED, Winge DR, McClain DA. Insulin deficiency associated with decreased mitochondrial function and abnormal metal distribution in a mouse model of hemochromatosis is reversed by manganese supplementation. Molecular Medicine. 2008 14:98-108.
  22. Tabbi-Anneni I, Buchanan J, Cooksey RC, Abel ED. Captopril normalizes insulin signaling and insulin-regulated substrate metabolism in obese (ob/ob) mouse hearts. 2008: Endocrinology. 149:4043-4050.
  23. Fang C, Gu J, Xie F, Behr M, Yang W, Abel ED, Ding X. Deletion of the NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase gene in cardiomyocytes does not protect mice against doxorubicin-mediated cardiac toxicity. 2008: Drug Metab Dispos. 36:1722-1728.
  24. Lehman JJ, Boudina S, Banke NH, Sambandam N Phd, Han X, Young DM, Leone TC, Gross RW, Lewandowski ED, Abel ED, Kelly DP. The Transcriptional Coactivator PGC-1{alpha} is Essential for Maximal and Efficient Cardiac Mitochondrial Fatty Acid Oxidation and Lipid Homeostasis. 2008: Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 295:H185-196.
  25. Park TS, Hu Y, Noh HL, Drosatos K, Okajima K, Buchanan J, Tuinei J, Homma S, Jiang XC, Abel ED, Goldberg IJ. Ceramide is a cardiotoxin in lipotoxic cardiomyopathy. 2008: J Lipid Res. 49:2101-2112.
  26. Augustus AS, Buchanan J, Addya S, Rengo G, Pestell R, Fortina P, Koch WJ, Bensadoun A, Abel ED, Lisanti MP. Substrate uptake and metabolism are preserved in hypertrophic Caveolin-3 Knockout Hearts. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2008: 295:H657-666.
  27. Mossalam M, Jeong J-H, Abel ED, Kim SW, Kim Y-H. Reversal of oxidative stress in endothelial cells by controlled release of adiponectin. Journal of Controlled Release. 2008: 130: 234-237.
  28. Augustus AS, Buchanan J, Gutman E, Rengo G, Pestell RG, Fortina P, Koch WJ, Bensadoun A, Abel ED, Lisanti MP. Hearts lacking caveolin-1 develop hypertrophy with normal cardiac substrate metabolism. Cell Cycle. 2008 Aug 15;7(16):2509-18.
  29. Bugger H, Boudina S, Hu XX, Tuinei J, Zaha VG, Theobald HA, Yun UJ, McQueen AP, Wayment B, Litwin SE, Abel ED. Type 1 diabetic Akita mouse hearts are insulin sensitive but manifest structurally abnormal mitochondria that remain coupled despite increased uncoupling protein 3. Diabetes. 2008 Nov;57(11):2924-32
  30. Kim J, Wende AR, Sena S, Theobald HA, Soto J, Sloan C, Wayment BE, Litwin SE, Holzenberger M, LeRoith D, Abel ED. IGF-1 Receptor signaling is required for exercise-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Molecular Endocrinology. 2008 Nov;22(11):2531-43.
  31. Bugger H, Boudina S, Hu XX, Tuinei J, Zaha VG, Theobald HA, Yun UJ, McQueen AP, Wayment B, Litwin SE, Abel ED. Type 1 diabetic akita mouse hearts are insulin sensitive but manifest structurally abnormal mitochondria that remain coupled despite increased uncoupling protein 3. Diabetes. 2008 Nov;57(11):2924-32.
  32. Wright JJ, Kim J, Buchanan J, Boudina S, Bakirtzi K, Ilkun O, Theobald HA, Cooksey RC, Kanror KV, Abel ED. Mechanisms for increased myocardial fatty acid utilization following short-term high fat feeding. Cardiovasc Res. 2009 Jan 15.
  33. Yang S, Liu A, Weidenhammer A, Cooksey RC, McClain D, Kim MK, Aguilera G, Abel ED, Chung JH. The Role of mPer2 clock gene in glucocorticoid and feeding rhythms. Endocrinology. 2009 Jan 29 
  34. Boudina S, Bugger H, Sena S, O'Neill BT, Zaha VG, Ilkun O, Wright JJ, Mazumder PK, Palfreyman E, Tidwell TJ, Theobald H, Khalimonchuk O, Wayment B, Sheng X, Rodnick KJ, Centini R, Chen D, Litwin SE, Weimer BE, Abel ED. Contribution of impaired myocardial insulin signaling to mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress in the heart. Circulation. 2009 Mar 10;119(9):1272-83. Epub 2009 Feb 23.
  35. Sena S, Hu P, Zhang D, Wang X, Wayment B, Olsen C, Avelar E, Abel ED, Litwin SE. Impaired insulin signaling accelerates cardiac mitochondrial dysfunction after myocardial infarction. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2009 Feb 26
  36. Symons JD, McMillin SL, Riehle C, Tanner J, Palionyte M, Hillas E, Jones D, Cooksey RC, Birnbaum MJ, McClain DA, Zhang QJ, Gale D, Wilson LJ, Abel ED. Contribution of Insulin and Akt1 Signaling to Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase in the Regulation of Endothelial Function and Blood Pressure. Circ Res. 2009 Apr 2. [Epub ahead of print]
  37. Bakirtzi K, Belfort G, Lopez-Coviella I, Kuruppu D, Cao L, Abel ED, Brownell AL, Kandror KV. Cerebellar neurons possess a vesicular compartment structurally and functionally similar to Glut4-storage vesicles from peripheral insulin-sensitive tissues. J Neurosci. 2009 Apr 22;29(16):5193-201.
  38. Zhang QJ, McMillin SL, Tanner JM, Palionyte M, Abel ED, Symons JD. Endothelial nitric oxide synthase phosphorylation in treadmill-running mice: Role of vascular signaling kinases. J Physiol. 2009 Aug 1;587(Pt 15):3911-20. Epub 2009 Jun 8.
  39. Bugger H, Chen D, Riehle C, Soto J, Theobald HA, Hu XX, Ganesan B, Weimer BC, Abel ED. Tissue-Specific Remodeling of the Mitochondrial Proteome in Type 1 Diabetic Akita Mice. Diabetes. 2009 Sep;58(9):1986-97. Epub 2009 Jun 19.
  40. Soesanto W, Lin H, Hu E, Lefler S, Litwin SE, Sena S, Abel ED, Symons JD, Jalili T. mTOR is a critical regulator of cardiac hypertrophy in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats. Hypertension. 2009. In Press.
  41. Ikeda H, Shiojima I, Ozasa Y, Yoshida M, Holzenberger M, Kahn CR, Walsh K, Igarashi T, Abel ED, Komuro I. Interaction of myocardial insulin receptor and IGF receptor signaling in exercise-induced cardiac hypertrophy. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2009 Sep 7. Epub 2009. Sept 8
  42. Bugger H, Abel ED. Rodent models of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Dis Model Mech. 2009 Sep-Oct;2(9-10):454-66.
  43. Wende AR, Abel ED. Lipotoxicity in the Heart. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2009 Oct 7. [Epub ahead of print]

Reviews, Chapters, and Editorials:

  1. Abel ED. Myocardial insulin resistance and cardiac complications of diabetes. Curr. Drug Targets –Immune, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders. 2005: 5; 219-226
  2. Abel ED. Metabolic perturbations in the diabetic heart: Mechanisms and molecular targets. Drug Discovery Today: Disease Mechanisms. 2005: 2; 115-122.
  3. O’Neill BT, Abel ED. Akt1 in the cardiovascular system: friend or foe? Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2005:115; 2059-2064
  4. Boudina S, Abel ED. Mitochondrial uncoupling: a key contributor to reduced cardiac efficiency in diabetes. Physiology. 2006:21; 250-258.
  5. Hsueh WA, Abel ED, Breslow JL, Maeda N, Davis RC, Fisher EA, Dansky H, McClain DA, McIndoe R, Wassef MK, Rabadan-Diehl C, Goldberg IJ. Recipes for creating animal models of diabetic cardiovascular disease. Circulation Research. 2007:100; 1415-1427
  6. Boudina S, Abel ED. Diabetic cardiomyopathy revisited. Circulation. 2007:115; 3213-3223.
  7. Abel ED. Glucose for the aging heart? Circulation. 2007: 116:884-887
  8. Bugger H, Abel ED. Molecular mechanisms of myocardial mitochondrial dysfunction in the metabolic syndrome. Clinical Science. 2008: 114(3):195-210
  9. Abel ED, Litwin SE, Sweeney GD. Cardiac remodeling in obesity. Physiological Reviews. 2008: 88:389-419.
  10. Bugger H, Abel ED. Molecular basis of cardiac efficiency. Heart and Metabolism. 2008: 39:1-5.
  11. Bugger H. Abel ED. Rodent models of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Disease Models and Mechanisms. 2009: 2, 454-466.