WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Jennifer Wolfgang, D.O., an endocrinology fellow at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, is one of five fellows nationwide to receive an award for outstanding research.
Wolfgang was selected to receive the “AstraZeneca Diabetes and Metabolism Research Fellow Award” for a project examining the relationship between obesity and insulin resistance in different ethnic groups. Senior researcher on the project was Jorge Calles-Escandon, M.D., associate professor of endocrinology.
The research showed that black women – even if their weight is normal – may be at increased risk for insulin resistance, a condition associated with diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart vessel disease.
“Our research suggests that race, in addition to obesity, is an important contributor to the development of insulin resistance and possibly to type 2 diabetes,” said Wolfgang.
Wolfgang received $2,000 and presented the work at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Boston.
Wolfgang, from Hershey, Pa., and Richmond, Va., is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
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Media Contacts: Karen Richardson, krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu, or Shannon Koontz, shkoontz@wfubmc.edu, 336-716-4587.
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university’s School of Medicine. The system comprises 1,187 acute care, psychiatric, rehabilitation and long-term care beds and is consistently ranked as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report.