Obesity, prediabetes and diabetes underlie nerve damage
Dr. Callaghan’s research is focused on the metabolic factors that are associated with neuropathy. He has completed four observational studies that have demonstrated that hyperglycemia, obesity, and the number of metabolic syndrome components (increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol levels), but not hypertension or dyslipidemia, are associated with neuropathy. This has led to a proposed interventional study of surgical weight loss and/or high intensity interval training to determine if either intervention can prevent nerve injury. If successful, either intervention would be the first disease modifying therapy for neuropathy. In February 2018, he published “Diabetes and Obesity Are the Main Metabolic of Peripheral Neuropathy,” in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.
Dr. Callaghan has investigated ways to improve the efficiencies of healthcare delivery within neurology with a focus on peripheral neuropathy. Additionally, he has studied the utilization and costs associated with neurologic testing, prescriptions, and neurologic visits with implications for payment reform.
Credentials
- BS, Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Michigan, 2004
- MD & Neurology Residency, University of Pennsylvania, 2008
- Neurology Fellowship, University of Michigan, 2009
- Masters in Clinical Research Design and Statistical Analysis, University of Michigan, 2011
- Center for Health and Research Transformation Policy Fellowship, University of Michigan, 2016
Honors & Awards
- Inaugural Fovette E. Dush Early Career Professor in Neurology
- American Academy of Neurology AB Baker Teacher Recognition Award
- Status Pedagogicus Award presented by University of Michigan Neurology Residents in recognition of teaching excellence
Callaghan News
U.S. News & World Report features Dr. Brian Callaghan
On small fiber neuropathy: "Doctors, and especially neurologists, are more aware of this condition than they were 10 years ago," said Dr. Brian Callaghan, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. Callaghan co-wrote an editorial accompanying the new study.
ADA 2021: A Debate on Neuropathy Testing
Dr. Brian Callaghan shares his position about the current problems of diabetic neuropathy testing. He presented this argument during a debate at the American Diabetes Association's 81st Scientific Sessions.
Callaghan Receives American Neurological Association Honor
The 2020 Wolfe Neuropathy Research Prize honors an outstanding investigator who identifies a new cause or treatment of neuropathy. Dr. Brian Callaghan was recognized for his work with obesity and neuropathy.
Study of Medicare Policy by Drs. Callaghan and Reynolds Published in Neurology
In addition to his diabetes research, Dr. Callaghan seeks to improve the efficiency in neurologic testing. Here he examined how a change to Medicare's nerve conduction study reimbursement policy in 2013 has affected the utilization, payments and patient access to the the procedure, which measures the speed at which an electrical impulse moves
Drs. Feldman, Callaghan, Goutman Published in Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry
Over the last 100 years, we contend the subspeciality of neuromuscular disorders leads the neurologic community in the most important achievements: discovering the genetic etiology of previously untreatable neuromuscular disorders and turning these discoveries into therapies.
How Diabetes and Obesity Affect the Brain
In a Michigan Medicine Blog , Dr. Brian Callaghan discusses his clinical research of diabetes and obesity, which has demonstrated that, in addition to peripheral nerve damage, can also cause cognitive dysfunction, affecting thinking,