National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

Scientific Director: Michael W. Krause, Ph.D.

The Intramural Research Program (IRP) of the NIDDK conducts basic, translational, and clinical biomedical research related to diabetes mellitus, endocrine, bone and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases, including liver diseases and nutritional disorders; kidney diseases; and hematologic diseases.

The research conducted in the IRP spans the breadth of modern biomedical investigation, from basic science to clinical studies. A sampling of areas under study includes:

  • Biophysics – studies of protein folding, development of optical and vibrational imaging, and theory of protein dynamics
  • Cell biology – studies of nuclear import/export, intracellular protein and lipid trafficking, cellular migration and prions
  • Chemical biology and medicinal chemistry – synthesis and characterization of novel compounds and discovery of biologically active natural products
  • Developmental biology – studies using model systems ranging from slime molds to vertebrates to human cells
  • Genetics, pathogenesis, and novel therapies of disease – studies of diabetes types 1 and 2, hepatitis, lipodystrophy, multiple endocrine neoplasia, nephritis/nephropathy, obesity, sickle cell anemia, and transplantation
  • Molecular biology – studies of chromatin structure and function, transcriptional regulation, and DNA recombination
  • Signal transduction – basic and human disease-oriented studies of GTP-binding proteins and protein-coupled receptors, tyrosine kinase receptors, and nuclear hormone receptors
  • Structural biology – studies using x-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy

Learn more about the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases’ Intramural Research Program.

This page was last updated on Tuesday, January 11, 2022