Principal Investigator:

Catherine Weikert Yeckel, PhD

Assistant Fellow
The John B. Pierce Laboratory

Associate Research Scientist
Internal Medicine/Endocrinology
Yale University School of Medicine

Research Interests

The dramatic increase in obesity at a young age coincides with an increase risk for developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Research in our laboratory examines underlying metabolic and physiologic dysfunction in this vulnerable population. The central goal of our research is to determine specific adaptations in response to thermal and/or exercise interventions that may improve the health of individuals who are overweight/obese or who otherwise demonstrate insulin resistance.

Current Projects

The focus of current research falls into three main categories: (i) the clinical role of mild cold exposure as a nonpharmacological approach to improve the insulin sensitivity related to obesity; (ii) combinatorial effects of mild cold exposure and exercise on health risk variables; and (iii) similarities in the mechanisms underlying adaptations resulting from mild cold exposure and exercise.

Representative Publications

Yeckel, CW, Durham, WJ, Sheffield-Moore, ME, Wolf, SE, Chinkes, DL, Wolfe, RR. Gender differences in plasma triglyceride turnover during moderate intensity exercise: Evidence for a large non-peripheral fatty acid contribution to triglyceride production.Submitted.

DiPietro, L, Dziura, J, Yeckel, CW, Neufer, PD. Exercise and improved insulin sensitivity in older women: Evidence of the enduring benefits of higher intensity training. J Appl Physiol 100:142-149, 2006.

Yeckel, CW, Taksali, SE, Dziura, J, Weiss, R, Burgert, TS, Sherwin, RS, Tamborlane, WV, Caprio, S. The normal glucose tolerance continuum in obese youth: Evidence for impairment in -cell function independent of insulin resistance. JCEM 90(2): 747-754, 2005.

Sheffield-Moore, M, Yeckel, CW, Volpi, E, Wolf, SE, Morio, B, Chinkes, DL, Paddon-Jones, D, Wolfe, RR. Post-exercise metabolism in older and younger men following moderate aerobic exercise. AJP Endocrine Metabol. 287(3): E513-E522, 2004.

Yeckel, CW, Weiss, R, Dziura, J, Taksali, SE, Dufour, S, Burgert, TS, Tamborlane, WV, Caprio, S. Validation of insulin sensitivity indices from oral glucose tolerance test parameters in obese children and adolescents. JCEM 89(3): 1096-1101, 2004.

Durham, WJ, Yeckel, CW, Miller, SL, Gore, DC, Wolfe, RR. Exogenous nitric oxide increases basal leg glucose uptake in humans. Metabolism 52(6): 662-665, 2003.

Coggan, AR, Raguso, CA, Gastadelli, A, Sidossis, LS, Yeckel, CW, Fat metabolism during high intensity exercise in endurance trained and untrained men. Metabolism 49(1): 122-128, 2000.
Cathy Yeckel, PhD
Principal Investigator
Michelle Gosselin, BS
 Research Assistant