An interview with Professor Gregory Steinberg, Co-Director of the Centre for Metabolism, Obesity and Diabetes Research and the Canada Research Chair in Metabolism and Obesity at McMaster University

Abstract

Gregory Steinberg completed his PhD at the University of Guelph, Canada, where he studied the role of leptin in muscle in the laboratory of Professor David Dyck. From 2002 to 2006, Greg was a postdoctoral fellow with Professor Bruce Kemp at St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research, Australia, where he studied the role of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). In 2006, he started his academic career as Lecturer, Senior Research Fellow and Head of Metabolism at St Vincent’s Institute and the University of Melbourne. He returned to Canada in 2009 where his research studies cellular energy sensing mechanisms and looks at how endocrine factors, lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity are linked and contribute to the development of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Diabetes Canada-Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Diabetes Young Scientist Award; the Endocrine Society Richard E Weitzman Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award; the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Gold Leaf Prize; and the American Diabetes Association Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award. To help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin, Greg also recently took part in Diabetes Canada’s fitness fundraiser, ‘Lace Up for Diabetes’, riding 8000 km (the equivalent of crossing Canada) over a period of 80 days and raising almost $15,000 to help fund the next breakthrough discovery in the field. Coinciding with our issue theme of diabetes, which also marks the centenary of this discovery by Canadian scientists, The Biochemist spoke to Greg briefly about his work in this area.