Miriam Cnop

Miriam Cnop (born December 25, 1970 in Ixelles / Elsene , Belgium ) is a Belgian researcher and doctor specializing in diabetology . She is Professor of Medicine at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and Clinical Director of the Endocrinology Department of the Erasmus Clinic. Her work focuses on the diabetes 2 type , in particular on lipotoxicity mechanisms using human pancreatic islets of Langerhans , and human induced pluripotent stem cells - derived β cells. She is an associate member of the Royal Academy of Belgian Medicine. In 2013 her work was recognized with the Oskar Minkowski Prize of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes .

Youth and education

Born in 1970 to the mathematician Ivan Cnop, she attended the Royal Athenaeum of Tervuren . In 1988 she began her medical studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel . In 1995 she graduated summa cum laude and first class thanks to her thesis on the effects of lipids on pancreatic beta cells under the supervision of Pipeleers. She received her PhD from the same institution in 2002. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle, under the supervision of Steven Kahn, thanks to a grant from the Belgian American Educational Foundation. She specializes in internal medicine and has focused on endocrinology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

research

Miriam Cnop's main research topic is the failure of the pancreatic beta cells in type 2 diabetes and monogenic forms of diabetes. It contributed to the detection of the lipotoxicity of saturated fatty acids , which disrupt the beta cells and ultimately lead to their death ( apoptosis ). Her team showed that the pancreas reaches its total capital of beta cells at the age of 20, from then on the beta cells age with the body and can die due to metabolic stress. The monogenic forms of diabetes that are being investigated in her group include diseases that are triggered by gene mutations that play a role in the stress on the endoplasmic reticulum , as well as in mitochondrial function or a well-functioning tRNA . Her team described the effects of TRMT10A deficiency in mammals, highlighting its role in the pathogenesis of microcephaly and the early onset of diabetes. She was the first to show incretin deficiency in a certain type of diabetes caused by RFX6 gene mutations. These monogenic forms can further our understanding of the complex processes that lead to type 2 diabetes.

She also investigated the link between Friedreich's ataxia and diabetes, in collaboration with other researchers from the Université Libre de Bruxelles. While it was previously assumed that this form of diabetes existed due to insulin resistance, they showed that beta cell disorders and their death play a central role in the pathogenesis of diabetes for patients with this hereditary disorder.

Her laboratory is one of the few who, in collaboration with Timo Otonkoski, Helsinki, can produce induced pluripotent stem cells in pancreatic islet cells. This novel technology offers a unique opportunity to gain insight into the pathways leading to beta cell failure in diabetes and to test new therapies.

She participates in two initiatives of the European Union concerning pharmaceuticals, INNODIA and Rhapsody, for type 1 and type 2 diabetes. She also coordinates the EU Horizon 2020 project T2DSystems, which aims to develop a biomedical approach system for risk identification, prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes.

International awards

• European Association for Diabetes Research “Rising Star”, 2005
• GB Morgagni Young Investigator Award, 2010
• Oskar Minkowski Prize of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, 2013
• Auguste Loubatières Prize of the French Diabetes Society, 2014

Web links

• Portrait at expertalia.be
• Portrait on the pages of the Université libre de Bruxelles