Martin Myers, Jr., MD, PhD

Director, Caswell Diabetes Institute
Director, Michigan Diabetes Research Center
Marilyn H Vincent Professor of Diabetes Research
Professor of Internal Medicine
Professor of Molecular & Integrative Physiology

Areas of Interest

Dr. Myers’ research focuses on the processes that enable the body to respond normally to insulin and how problems in these pathways contribute to the development of insulin resistance and diabetes. His laboratory specifically concentrates on the crucial role played by nerve centers in the unconscious part of the brain — what Myers calls “glycemic control centers” — that regulate the body’s ability to respond to insulin.

The Myers lab focuses on the actions of the key metabolic hormone leptin. While best known for regulating body weight, leptin plays a crucial role in regulating insulin action and blood sugar via the glycemic control centers of the brain. Furthermore, much of the control of blood sugar by leptin is independent of body weight control.

Honors & Awards

  • Outstanding Scientific Achievement Awards from the American Diabetes Association (2010)
  • Ernst Oppenheimer Memorial Award from The Endocrine Society (2011). 
  • Named Editor-in-Chief of the Diabetes® journal (2016)
  • Fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2017)

Published Articles or Reviews

  • Bates SH, Stearns WH, Schubert M, Tso AWK, Wang Y, Banks AS, Dundon T, Lavery HJ, Haq AK, Maratos-Flier E, Neel BG, Schwartz MW, and Myers MG Jr. Leptin receptor-STAT3 signaling is required for leptin regulation of energy balance but not reproductionNature 2003; 421(6925): 856-9.
  • Leshan RL, Greenwald-Yarnell M, Patterson CM, Gonzales IE, and Myers MG Jr. Leptin action via hypothalamic neuronal nitric oxide synthase-1 neurons control energy balanceNat Med. 2012 Apr 22. doi: 10.1038/nm.2724. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 22522563. PMCID: PMC3531967
  • Flak JN, Patterson CM, Garfield AS, D’Agostino G, Goforth PB, Sutton AK, Malec PA, Wong J-MT, Germani M, Jones JC, Rajala M, Satin L, Rhodes CJ, Olson DP, Kennedy RT, Heisler LK, and Myers MG Jr. Leptin-inhibited PBN neurons enhance counter-regulatory responses to hypoglycemia in negative energy balance. Nat Neurosci. 2014 Dec;17(12):1744-50. doi: 10.1038/nn.3861. Epub 2014 Nov 10. PMID: 25383904. PMCID: PMC4255234.
  • Cheng W, Gonzalez I, Pan W, Tsang AH, Adams J, Ndoka E, Gordian D, Khoury B, Roelofs K, Evers SS, MacKinnon A, Wu S, Frikke-Schmidt H, Flak JN, Trevaskis JL, Rhodes CJ, Fukada S, Seeley RJ, Sandoval DA, Olson DP, Blouet C, and Myers MG Jr. Calcitonin Receptor Neurons in the Mouse Nucleus Tractus Solitarius Control Energy Balance via the Non-aversive Suppression of FeedingCell Metab 2020. Published:January 16, 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2019.12.012(link is external). PMCID: PMC7104375.