Welcome to Belfort De Aguiar Lab!

Our mission: To investigate whether lactation improves insulin sensitivity and increases lipolysis in women.

To achieve our mission, we conduct rigorous high-quality clinic and lab to study the mechanisms of insulin resistance and insulin secretion.

Aim 1: Does lactation improve insulin sensitivity and increase lipolysis in women? In this Aim, we will assess whether lactation amongst women with a history of GDM will improve whole body insulin sensitivity as well as increase whole body lipid turnover by using hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamps combined with [6,6-2H]-glucose and [2H5]-glycerol infusions. These stable, non-radiating isotopes have been used extensively and safely to study the mechanisms of insulin resistance amongst non-pregnant as well as pregnant humans; however, these techniques have not previously been applied to the study of insulin sensitivity during lactation.

Our goals will be two-fold:

1. to determine whether lactation induces similar changes in insulin sensitivity in humans as in mice and
2. to pilot the feasibility of performing larger, more detailed metabolic studies in this population of women post-partum.

Aim 2: Retrospective chart review of women with a history of GDM who had an OGTT 6-8 weeks post-partum as part of standard of care at Yale Medicine’s Maternal-Fetal Medicine Clinic.