About Us

The Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition has enjoyed unprecedented growth to become one of the largest and most successful Divisions of Endocrinology in the country. Guided by its mission of excellence in research and discovery, clinical care and education, we have made great strides in each of these arenas. The faculty are extraordinarily collegial and collaborative and have diverse interests spanning clinical endocrinology/diabetes, clinical research/trials, epidemiology, cellular and molecular biology, functional genomics, and molecular and statistical genetics.

Future challenges include continued growth of the research program, ongoing improvement of current clinical programs, and the development of new programs (inpatient diabetes management and diabetes prevention) to meet the current and future needs of patients with endocrine disorders and diabetes.

Facilities & Resources

All of the Division’s faculty members have private offices distributed in the research area, clinic sites, or Baltimore VA Medical Center. Research resources include approximately 7,865 square feet of state-of-the-art wet lab space fully equipped to perform molecular, cellular, functional genomics and high-throughput genetics research (HSFIII); over 6,000 square feet of office space with networked Unix and PC computer hardware for the Genetic Epidemiology Unit led by Dr. Braxton Mitchell (HSFIII); and approximately 100 square feet of clinical research space at the University of Maryland Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology (UMMC Midtown). The Division’s Clinical Research Unit is equipped to perform investigator-initiated clinical research and therapeutic trials for diabetes, diabetic complications, obesity and other endocrine disorders.

The Mid-Atlantic Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC) is a center funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) in 2005. The mission of the NORC of Maryland is to foster multidisciplinary research approaches to understanding the impact of nutrition on risk for chronic disease and translate this knowledge into effective clinical treatments and prevention efforts.

Investigators from University of Maryland and the Johns Hopkins University have also joined together to create the JHU-UMD Diabetes Research Center (DRC). The Center fosters collaborative, multidisciplinary diabetes and endocrinology research, and translates that research into programs to train health care professionals in the diagnosis and management of diabetes.

Core resources for the Mid-Atlantic Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC) and the JHU-UMD Diabetes Research and Training Center (DRC) are housed in the EDN Division's research space. Resources from these NIH-funded Centers are accessible to its members at the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, and for the Mid-Atlantic NORC, at Geisinger Health Systems (Danville, PA) as well.

The Amish Research Clinic is located in Lancaster, PA. Staffed by 4 fulltime nurses, 1 part-time and 2 contractual nurses, 1 fulltime sonographer, 3 fulltime med techs, 1 admin. asst., 15 Amish liaisons, and 3 drivers, this 3,300 square foot clinical research facility performs field-work, recruitment, and phenotypic characterization of Amish research volunteers for many concurrent studies.

The Hypertension and Endocrine Research Unit (HEU), directed by Dr. Nanette Steinle, is a large clinical research facility at the Baltimore VAMC. This 1500 square foot facility is equipped with examination rooms, clinical lab, procedure rooms and data storage. Multiple clinical research studies have been performed in the fields of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes both single and multiple site, including the ALLHAT Study and ACCORD Study. Finally, several of the Division’s clinical investigators utilize the University of Maryland General Clinical Research Center for some of their more intensive NIH-funded protocols.