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. 

• Modulating ROS by Electromagnetic Fields to Treat Type 2 Diabetes
  National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
  1 R01 DK125079-01A1
  January 1, 2022 - February 28, 2027
• Sex Differences in Cardia Autonomic Remodeling After Myocardial Infarction
  National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute:
  R01 HL170626
  December 1, 2023 – November 30, 2027
• NNMT Inhibition for treating heart failure
  National Heart Lung and Blood Institute
  1R01HL180429-01
  August 08, 2025 – May 31, 2029
• Shaping Cardiac Immuno-Metabolic Homeostasis by the Lysosome
  University (Univ)
  S05825-01/R01 HL180725
  September 1, 2025 – May 31, 2029
   

Publications

• Zhang J, Sjøberg KA, Gong S, Wang T, Li F, Kuo A, Durot S, Majcher A, Ardicoglu R, Desgeorges T, Mann CG, Soro Arnáiz I, Fitzgerald G, Gilardoni P, Abel ED, Kon S, Olivares-Villagómez D, Zamboni N, Wolfrum C, Hornemann T, Morscher R, Tisch N, Ghesquière B, Kopf M, Richter EA, De Bock K. Endothelial metabolic control of insulin sensitivity through resident macrophages. Cell Metab. 2024 Nov 5;36(11):2383-2401.e9. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2024.08.008. Epub 2024 Sep 12. PMID: 39270655
• Perry AS, Hadad N, Chatterjee E, Jimenez-Ramos M, Farber-Eger E, Roshani R, Stolze LK, Betti MJ, Zhao S, Huang S, Martens L, Kendall TJ, Thone T, Amancherla K, Bailin S, Gabriel CL, Koethe J, Carr JJ, Terry JG, Vaitinadin NS, Freedman JE, Tanriverdi K, Alsop E, Van Keuren-Jensen K, Sauld JFK, Mahajan G, Khan SS, Colangelo L, Nayor M, Fisher-Hoch S, McCormick JB, North KE, Below JE, Wells QS, Abel ED, Kalhan R, Scott C, Guilliams M, Gamazon ER, Fallowfield JA, Banovich NE, Das S, Shah R. A prognostic molecular signature of hepatic steatosis is spatially heterogeneous and dynamic in human liver. Cell Rep Med. 2024 Dec 17;5(12):101871. doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2024.101871. Epub 2024 Dec 9. PMID: 39657669; PMCID: PMC11722105.
• Pires KM, Buffolo M, Schaaf C, Symons JD, Cox J, Abel ED, Selzman CH, Boudina S. Corrigendum to "Activation of IGF-1 receptors and Akt signaling by systemic hyperinsulinemia contributes to cardiac hypertrophy but does not regulate cardiac autophagy in obese diabetic mice" [Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology 113 (2017) 39-50]. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2025 Apr;201:94. doi: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2025.01.008. Epub 2025 Feb 28. Erratum for: J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2017 Dec;113:39-50. doi: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2017.10.001. PMID: 40023116.
• Thieren L, Zanker HS, Droux J, Dalvi U, Wyss MT, Waag R, Germain PL, von Ziegler LM, Looser ZJ, Hösli L, Ravotto L, Abel ED, Bohacek J, Wegener S, Barros LF, El Amki M, Weber B, Saab AS. Astrocytic GLUT1 deletion in adult mice enhances glucose metabolism and resilience to stroke. Nat Commun. 2025 May 6;16(1):4190. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-59400-2. PMID: 40328784; PMCID: PMC12056070.
• Verdejo HE, Parra V, Del Campo A, Vasquez-Trincado C, Gatica D, Lopez-Crisosto C, Kuzmicic J, Venegas-Zamora L, Zuñiga-Cuevas U, Troncoso MF, Troncoso R, Rothermel BA, Chiong M, Abel ED, Lavandero S. mTOR inhibition triggers mitochondrial fragmentation in cardiomyocytes through proteosome-dependent prohibitin degradation and OPA-1 cleavage. Cell Commun Signal. 2025 May 31;23(1):256. doi: 10.1186/s12964-025-02240-w. PMID: 40450326; PMCID: PMC12125784.
• Sun Y, Mishra AK, Chanrasekhar V, Door M, Kessinger CW, Xu B, Tang P, Gao Y, Kamli-Salino S, Nelson K, Delibegovic M, Abel ED, Kirk JA, Kontaridis MI. Deletion of PTP1B in cardiomyocytes alters cardiac metabolic signaling to protect against cardiomyopathy induced by a high-fat diet. Sci Signal. 2025 Jul 22;18(896):eadp6006. doi: 10.1126/scisignal.adp6006. Epub 2025 Jul 22. PMID: 40694612.
• Zhang Y, Cochran JD, Souvenir RA, Tai W, Xia R, Gladwin BS, Barton NB, Pereira RO, Abel ED. Sex Differences in Ketogenic Diet Response Reveal Gonadal Hormone Interaction With FGF21 in Mice. J Endocr Soc. 2025 Aug 18;9(10):bvaf131. doi: 10.1210/jendso/bvaf131. PMID: 40917105; PMCID: PMC12411846.
• Li Z, Freiberg S, Music ML, Gu L, Nacos S, Phillips JP, Hassan A, Shibbani K, Munir SS, Kumar VK, Halligan L, Michel ME, London BF, Bui N, Cicha M, Buffard V, Abel ED, Ahmad F. Cardiac sodium-glucose co-transporter 1 (SGLT1) contributes to heart failure in a mouse model of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Basic Res Cardiol. 2025 Dec;120(6):1193-1207. doi: 10.1007/s00395-025-01136-7. Epub 2025 Sep 11. PMID: 40932483; PMCID: PMC12680731.
• Kumar A, Zhao Y, Xie L, Chadda R, Tranter JD, Mikami RT, Abraham N, Hong J, Feng E, Rawnsley DR, Liu H, Henry KM, Meyer G, Hu M, Xu H, Hinton A Jr, Grueter CE, Abel ED, Norris AW, Diwan A, Sah R. Lysosomal LRRC8 complex impacts lysosomal pH, morphology, and systemic glucose metabolism. Sci Adv. 2025 Sep 26;11(39):eadt6366. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adt6366. Epub 2025 Sep 26. PMID: 41004571; PMCID: PMC12466849.
• Ahmed A, Yadav P, Jensen M, Geasland K, Swamy J, Spitz DR, Abel ED, Jalal D, Dayal S. Mitochondrial oxidants promote platelet activation and thrombotic susceptibility in prediabetes. J Clin Invest. 2025 Dec 23;136(4):e195662. doi: 10.1172/JCI195662. PMID: 41433113; PMCID: PMC12904718.
• Abel ED, Ahima RS, Anderson EJ, Berg DD, Berger JS, Das S, Feinberg MW, Fisher EA, Garshick MS, Giannarelli C, Goldberg IJ, Hamburg NM, Kim SF, Moura FA, Ndumele CE, Newman JD, Sabatine MS, Selvin E, Shah R. A Road Map to Understanding Cardiovascular Disease in Diabetes: From the AHA Strategically Focused Research Network in Cardiometabolic Health and Type 2 Diabetes. Circ Res. 2026 Jan 16;138(2):e325798. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.125.325798. Epub 2026 Jan 15. PMID: 41538415.

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