Richard Kibbey, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine (endocrinology) will be inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) in April 2019.
“This is really a coming of age for a physician scientist like me,” explained Kibbey. “It is rewarding to be a member of ASCI. I am honored and excited about the induction.”
Kibbey credits his nomination to his diabetes work, beginning with the study of congenital hypoglycemia, which he started as an endocrine fellow in 2002. Kibbey and team identified a mechanism to explain how beta cells were responsible for blood glucose release in the body. From this finding, they developed a new technology that provides a greater understanding of metabolism and were able to translate this knowledge to design a new possible target to treat diabetes in animal models.
Kibbey and team are working with the National Institutes of Health on approvals to start human clinical trials.
“It is really fulfilling to start with a rare disorder like congenital hypoglycemia, understand it and translate those learnings to affect a very common disease like diabetes,” Kibbey said. “Thank you to the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation for their support of my research over the years.”
The ASCI is an honor society of physician-scientists who translate findings in the laboratory to the advancement of clinical practice. Founded in 1908, the society is home to over 3,000 members in the upper ranks of academic medicine and industry.
“As with each person to be inducted in April 2019, election to the ASCI recognizes a physician-scientist's high-level accomplishments at a relatively early career stage. Dr. Kibbey's research in the field of metabolism, including discovery of the role of the mitochondrial GTP cycle in metabolic sensing and the therapeutic possibilities arising from this cycle, represents the class of work—from deep scholarship through clinical potential—the ASCI strives to encompass,” said John B. Hawley, executive director of the American Society for Clinical Investigation.
The induction ceremony will take place at the 2019 Association of American Physicians / American Society for Clinical Investigation / American Physician-Scientists Association Joint Meeting April 5 – 7 in Chicago, Ill.