Abel Lab

About Dr. Abel

Professor E. Dale Abel is the William S. Adams Distinguished Professor and Chair for the Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine and Executive Medical Director UCLA Health. Dr. Abel graduated with Distinction from the University of the West Indies School of Medicine, obtained a DPhil from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, trained in Internal Medicine at Northwestern University, where he was chief resident and in endocrinology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical school. Dr. Abel has had a distinguished career in endocrine, metabolism and cardiovascular research. His pioneering work on glucose transport and mitochondrial metabolism launched his current research interests: molecular mechanisms responsible for cardiovascular complications of diabetes. Dr. Abel has published more than 250 peer reviewed publications in competitive journals such as the EMBO J ,eLife, Cell Metabolism, Nature Metabolism,  Circulation, Circulation Research, Diabetes, Journal of Clinical Investigation, and  Molecular and Cellular Biology . His work has been highly cited and has made important contributions to understanding the role of autophagy dysregulation in heart failure, particularly in obesity and diabetes.

Dr. Abel continues to be recognized for his scientific contributions. He is the recipient of numerous awards for scholarship and mentorship, including awards and endowed lectureships such as the Fred Conrad Koch Lifetime Achievement Award of the Endocrine Society, the Howard Morgan Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cardiovascular Sciences from the International Academy for Cardiovascular Sciences and the 2018 African American Museum of Iowa History Makers Award. He is an elected member of the American Association of Physicians (AAP), the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), the American Clinical and Climatological Association (ACCA), the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). He is past President of the Endocrine Society and the Association of Professors of Medicine.

Current Research Projects

The laboratory focuses in understanding the molecular mechanisms that are responsible for cardiovascular disease in obesity, type 2 diabetes, and type 1 diabetes. Our recent research focus includes,  novel metabolic signals that contribute to heart failure, contributions of altered mitochondrial dynamics to cardiometabolic disease and mechanisms linking insulin resistance and cardiometabolic disease, mitochondrial mechanisms for sex differences in cardiometabolic disease.

Funding and Support

The laboratory is funded by the National Institution of Health and the American Heart Association. 

A Heart-Liver-Adipose Axis: The Role of Inter-organ Crosstalk in Cardiometabolic Risk
SFRN35120123
Jan 1, 2020 – Dec 31, 2024

Molecular Determinants of MG53 in Heart Structure and Function
R01HL157781
Jan 10, 2022 – Aug 31, 2025

Modulating ROS by Electromagnetic Fields to Treat Type 2 Diabetes
R01DK125079
Jan 1, 2022 – Feb 28, 2026

Sex Differences in Cardia Autonomic Remodeling After Myocardial Infarction
R01 HL170626
Dec 1, 2023 – Nov 30, 2027

Future Leaders Advancing Research in Endocrinology
R25 DK096937
Jan 1, 2020 – Mar 30, 2028 

Publications

• Abel ED, Gloyn AL, Evans-Molina C, Joseph JJ, Misra S, Pajvani UB, Simcox J, Susztak K, Drucker DJ. Diabetes mellitus-Progress and opportunities in the evolving epidemic. Cell. 2024 Jul 25;187(15):3789-3820. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.06.029. PMID: 39059357.
• Devarajan A, Wang K, Lokhandwala ZA, Emamimeybodi M, Shannon K, Tompkins JD, Hevener AL, Lusis AJ, Abel ED, Vaseghi M. Myocardial infarction causes sex-dependent dysfunction in vagal sensory glutamatergic neurotransmission that is mitigated by 17β-Estradiol. JCI Insight. 2024 Jun 11:e181042. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.181042. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38885308.
• Shi Q, Malik H, Crawford RM, Streeter J, Wang J, Huo R, Shih JC, Chen B, Hall D, Abel ED, Song LS, Anderson EJ. Cardiac monoamine oxidase-A inhibition protects against catecholamine-induced ventricular arrhythmias via enhanced diastolic calcium control. Cardiovasc Res. 2024 May 7;120(6):596-611. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvae012. PMID: 38198753; PMCID: PMC11074799.
• Hinton A Jr, Katti P, Mungai M, Hall DD, Koval O, Shao J, Vue Z, Lopez EG, Rostami R, Neikirk K, Ponce J, Streeter J, Schickling B, Bacevac S, Grueter C, Marshall A, Beasley HK, Do Koo Y, Bodine SC, Nava NGR, Quintana AM, Song LS, Grumbach IM, Pereira RO, Glancy B, Abel ED. ATF4-dependent increase in mitochondrial-endoplasmic reticulum tethering following OPA1 deletion in skeletal muscle. J Cell Physiol. 2024 Apr;239(4):e31204. doi: 10.1002/jcp.31204. Epub 2024 Feb 28. PMID: 38419397.
• García-Peña LM, Abel ED, Pereira RO. Mitochondrial Dynamics, Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease. Diabetes. 2024 Feb 1;73(2):151-161. doi: 10.2337/dbi23-0003. PMID: 38241507; PMCID: PMC10796300.
• Froese N, Szaroszyk M, Galuppo P, Visker JR, Werlein C, Korf-Klingebiel M, Berliner D, Reboll MR, Hamouche R, Gegel S, Wang Y, Hofmann W, Tang M, Geffers R, Wende AR, Kühnel MP, Jonigk DD, Hansmann G, Wollert KC, Abel ED, Drakos SG, Bauersachs J, Riehle C. Hypoxia Attenuates Pressure Overload-Induced Heart Failure. J Am Heart Assoc. 2024 Feb 6;13(3):e033553. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.123.033553. Epub 2024 Jan 31. PMID: 38293923; PMCID: PMC11056135.
• Zhang Q, Li Z, Li Q, Trammell SA, Schmidt MS, Pires KM, Cai J, Zhang Y, Kenny H, Boudina S, Brenner C, Abel ED. Control of NAD+ homeostasis by autophagic flux modulates mitochondrial and cardiac function. EMBO J. 2024 Feb;43(3):362-390. doi: 10.1038/s44318-023-00009-w. Epub 2024 Jan 11. PMID: 38212381; PMCID: PMC10897141.
• Jacob S, Kosaka Y, Bhatlekar S, Denorme F, Benzon H, Moody A, Moody V, Tugolukova EA, Hull G, Kishimoto N, Manne BK, Guo L, Souvenir R, Seliger BJ, Eustes AS, Hoerger K, Tolley ND, Fatahian AN, Boudina S, Christiani DC, Wei Y, Ju C, Campbell RA, Rondina MT, Abel ED, Bray PF, Weyrich AS, Rowley JW. Mitofusin-2 Regulates Platelet Mitochondria and Function. Circ Res. 2024 Jan 19;134(2):143-161. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.123.322914. Epub 2023 Dec 29. PMID: 38156445; PMCID: PMC10872864.
• Jena J, García-Peña LM, Weatherford ET, Marti A, Bjorkman SH, Kato K, Koneru J, Chen JH, Seeley RJ, Abel ED, Pereira RO. GDF15 is required for cold-induced thermogenesis and contributes to improved systemic metabolic health following loss of OPA1 in brown adipocytes. Elife. 2023 Oct 11;12:e86452. doi: 10.7554/eLife.86452. PMID: 37819027; PMCID: PMC10567111.
• Abel ED, Ingelfinger JR, Kolko J, Linhales Barker S, Lopez D, Mejia M, Peek M, Reusch JEB, Rosen CJ. Type 2 Diabetes - Controlling the Epidemic, Episode 2: After the Diagnosis - Making a Plan and Addressing Social Determinants of Health. N Engl J Med. 2023 Sep 21;389(12):e23. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp2308232. PMID: 37733307.

Reviews & Editorials

• Deng, B., Zhang, Y., Zhu, C., Wang, Y., Weatherford, E., Xu, B., Liu, X., Conway, S. J., Abel, E. D., & Xiang, Y. K. (2023). Divergent Actions of Myofibroblast and Myocyte β2-Adrenoceptor in Heart Failure and Fibrotic Remodeling. Circulation research, 132(1), 106–108. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.122.321816
• Felker GM, Buttrick P, Rosenzweig A, Abel ED, Allen LA, Bristow M, Das S, DeVore AD, Drakos SG, Fang JC, Freedman JE, Hernandez AF, Li DY, McKinsey TA, Newton-Cheh C, Rogers JG, Shah RV, Shah SH, Stehlik J, Selzman CH. Heart Failure Strategically Focused Research Network: Summary of Results and Future Directions. J Am Heart Assoc. 2022 11(18):e025517. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.122.025517. Epub 2022 Sep 8. PMC Pending.
• Bugger H, Byrne NJ, Abel ED. Animal Models of Dysregulated Cardiac Metabolism. Circulation Research. 2022 130:1965-1993. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.122.320334. PMC Pending.
• Abel ED. Insulin Signaling In the Heart., American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism. 2021 May 31. PMID:34056923. doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00158.2021.
• Lopaschuk GD, Karwi QG, Tian R, Wende AR, Abel ED. Cardiac Energy Metabolism in Heart Failure., Circulation research. 2021 May 14;128(10):1487-1513. PMID:33983836. PMCID: PMC8136750. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.121.318241.
• Carter CS, Huang SC, Searby CC, Cassaidy B, Miller MJ, Grzesik WJ, Piorczynski TB, Pak TK, Walsh SA, Acevedo M, Zhang Q, Mapuskar KA, Milne GL, Hinton, Jr AO, Guo DF, Weiss R, Bradberry K, Taylor EB, Rauckhorst AJ, Dick DW, Akurathi V, Falls-Hubert KC, Wagner BA, Carter WA, Wang K, Norris AW, Rahmouni K, Buettner GR, Hansen JM, Spitz DR, Abel ED, Sheffield VC. Reply to Petersen et al.: An alternative hypothesis for why exposure to static magnetic and electric fields treats type 2 diabetes., American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism. 2021 May 1;320(5):E1004-E1005. PMID:33843283. PMCID: PMC8238129. doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00119.2021.
• Byrne NJ, Rajasekaran NS, Abel ED, Bugger H. Therapeutic potential of targeting oxidative stress in diabetic cardiomyopathy., Free radical biology & medicine. 2021 April 25;169:317-342. PMID:33910093. doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2021.03.046.
• Carter CS, Huang S, Searby C, Cassaidy B, Miller M, Grzesik W, Piorczynski TB, Pak TK, Walsh S, Acevedo M, Zhang Q, Mapuskar K, Milne G, Hinton, Jr AO, Guo DF, Weiss RM, Bradberry K, Taylor EB, Rauckhorst A, Dick D, Akurathi V, Falls-Hubert K, Wagner B, Carter W, Wang K, Norris AW, Rahmouni K, Buettner GR, Hansen JM, Spitz DR, Abel ED, Sheffield VC. Counterpoint regarding an alternative hypothesis for why exposure to static magnetic and electric fields treat type 2 diabetes., American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism. 2021 April 12. PMID:33843282. doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00110.2021.
• Finn PW, Abel ED, Amin A, Anderson ME, Carethers JM, Coleman DL, Curtis AB, Geraci MW, Gladwin MT, Hollenberg A, Parmacek MS, Robbins RJ. Voices for Social Justice and Against Racism: An AAIM Perspective., The American journal of medicine. 2021 April 10. PMID:33848502. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2021.03.008.
• Abel ED. mTOR Mediated Metabolic Rewiring and Ischemic Preconditioning, its Complicated., Circulation research. 2021 March 5;128(5):652-654. PMID:34219792. PMCID: PMC8244748. doi: 10.1161/circresaha.121.318874.

Honors & Award