IDOM Graduate Student Interest Group

There are many opportunities for graduate study in the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism, including course work, mentored research and seminars. All of the graduate students in IDOM labs enter through one of the graduate groups under the aegis of the Biomedical Graduate Studies or the Biology Program at the School of Arts and Sciences. Typically, students commit to one of these graduate programs when they choose Penn, and upon arrival have the opportunity of performing rotations in laboratories of IDOM members.

These mentors provide a broad range of research opportunities spanning many disciplines and asking varied questions related to diabetes, obesity and metabolic disease. Once a student elects to perform his or her thesis in the laboratory of an IDOM faculty member, that student immediately becomes part of the IDOM graduate community. IDOM graduate student activities include hosting graduate student-selected outside speakers, attending and presenting in joint laboratory meetings, and attending IDOM social events. Opportunities for collaborative research abound and most students get to know many of the faculty, students and postdoctoral fellows from a number of IDOM laboratories.

While some of the IDOM students enter Penn as members of the Cell Biology & Physiology Program within the Cell & Molecular Biology Graduate Program, many others choose such disciplines as Genetics, Developmental Biology, Pharmacology or Biochemistry and Molecular Biology for their didactic training prior to the selection of a laboratory. Courses offered by IDOM members and their colleagues cover most topics relevant to diabetes and metabolism, including physiology, biochemistry, signal transduction and cell biology. Moreover, students at Penn often take advantage of the ability to design “one on one” courses with faculty. Graduates who have trained in IDOM laboratories now occupy many leadership positions in both academia and the pharmaceutical industry.

Graduate students are welcome and encouraged to participate in the Academic Enrichment Program. Guest lecturers are invited by the graduate students of the Lazar, Ahima, Stoffers, Kaestner, Birnbaum and Wolf Labs.

The following students are current members:

Yair Argon Lab: