Michael Freemark, MD
Principal Investigator
Robert C. Atkins, M.D. and Veronica Atkins Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics, in the School of Medicine
Professor of Pediatrics
Affiliate, Duke Global Health Institute
Member of Sarah W. Stedman Nutrition and Metabolism Center
Contact Information

SUMMARY

Michael Freemark is the Atkins Professor of Pediatrics. Dr. Freemark has a longstanding interest in the roles of placental and pituitary hormones in the regulation of maternal metabolism and fetal growth. Using novel transgenic and knockout models of lactogen action, his research focuses on the control of beta cell development and function during the perinatal period and pregnancy and the defense against type 2 diabetes. 

MD, Duke University, Durham, NC

RESEARCH

The primary objective of my basic research has been to elucidate the roles of placental and fetal hormones in the regulation of maternal metabolism and fetal growth. My work has focused on the lactogenic hormones produced by the pituitary gland and placenta. To that end we used targeted knockout mice to explore the molecular mechanisms by which prolactin and placental lactogen regulate pancreatic beta cell mass and insulin production during pregnancy and postnatal life.

I also have a longstanding clinical research interest in the pathogenesis and treatment of obesity and hyperlipidemia and the prevention of type 2 diabetes. In previous studies we showed that the drug metformin reduces fat stores and blood glucose and insulin levels in obese adolescents and may reduce the risk of progression to diabetes in selected patients. We have also examined the unique metabolic characteristics of Prader Willi syndrome, a genetic obesity disorder.

Finally, my colleagues and I have performed detailed studies of hormone production and intermediary metabolism in malnourished children in Uganda, Bangladesh, Liberia, and Burkina Faso and characterized the effects of concurrent HIV infection on nutritional recovery.  We showed that the adipocyte hormone leptin is a major determinant of morbidity and mortality in children with moderate and severe acute malnutrition. 

PUBLICATIONS