Associate Professor
University of Colorado Anschutz/Children's Hospital Colorado
University of Colorado Anschutz/Children's Hospital Colorado
Dr. Melanie G Cree, MD, PhD, is a physician scientist and Pediatric Endocrinologist at the University of Colorado Anschutz and Children’s Hospital Colorado. As a physiologist, she is interested in disorders of insulin sensitivity that impact the reproductive axis and cardiometabolic health in adolescents. She utilizes non-invasive yet powerful techniques including stable isotope tracers, magnetic resonance spectroscopy and metabolomics to probe physiology in at-risk-youth with obesity, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), type 2 and type 1 diabetes.
Dr. Cree’s primary research focus has been on the role of hepatic fat as a marker or a mediator of progressive dysglycemia and worse cardiometabolic health in youth with obesity. She has described hepatic insulin resistance across the weight range of normoglycemic youth and within those with PCOS, T2 and T1D. After documenting higher rates of hepatic steatosis in females with PCOS relative to BMI similar females with normal menses, she has continued to explore liver metabolism within this population by measuring rates of hepatic de novo lipogenesis, fasting hepatic phosphate concentrations and energy partitioning. She recently completed 2 interventional clinical trials in adolescents with PCOS with the goal of reversing early cardiometabolic disease, in particular, hepatic steatosis.
In addition to her research work, Dr. Cree is dedicated to advancing the care of adolescents with PCOS. She is the founder and director of the Children's Hospital Colorado multi-disciplinary clinic, and she and her colleagues have published tools to assist with the development of similar clinics at other institutions. Three years ago, she founded a PCOS special interest group within the Pediatric Endocrine Society, and this group has developed clinical care tools to aid practitioners in providing comprehensive care. Dr. Cree is an advisor for the USA patient-based group PCOS Challenge and has advocated for additional research funding and awareness for PCOS.
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Thursday, October 26, 2023
16:30 – 17:30 EST