Research Director, NCCO
Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology,
Metabolism and Molecular Medicine Dr. Mauvais-Jarvis's research studies center on reproductive hormones' role in the maintenance of energy homeostasis in humans. Altered production or action of estrogens and androgens predisposes people to developing obesity and diabetes. For example, in women loss of endogenous estrogen secretion or excess androgen production leads to higher risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. A major focus of Dr. Mauvais-Jarvis’s research is to elucidate the role that estrogens play in pancreatic beta-cell survival and insulin production. Type 1 diabetes, the most severe form of diabetes, requires treatment by daily insulin injections to maintain life. Pancreatic islet transplantation (PIT) is the best treatment for type 1 diabetes, but the progressive degradation of transplanted islets has thus far prevented long-term success. Mauvais-Jarvis’s lab has initiated mechanistic studies of the role estrogens and androgens play in beta-cell function and survival. In a model of type 1 diabetes, investigators are exploring the possibility that pharmacological modulators of estrogen receptors may promote survival of cultured human islet cells and cure hyperglycemia following islet cell transplantation. The long-term research goal is to develop non-feminizing medicines with estrogen-like actions that could be used to enhance the success of islet cell transplantation in type 1 diabetic patients. This work has implications for treating those with type 2 diabetes as well, where estrogen receptors may play a role in stimulating insulin production and protecting beta-cells during metabolic stress. Another novel area of Mauvais-Jarvis’s research is to understand how disruption in sex hormones’ homeostasis influence the risks of metabolic syndrome and obesity. His group is investigating the importance of post-natal androgen exposure in programming the early onset of obesity in youths. They are also exploring how excess androgens in women modify adipose tissue biology and provoke inflammation thereby setting the stage for onset of type 2 diabetes. Dr. Mauvais-Jarvis received his bachelor's degree in biology, his medical degree, and his residency in medicine from the Paris V School of Medicine in Paris, France. Afterward, he took a clinical fellowship in endocrinology there. He then completed his PhD in cellular and molecular biology at the University of Paris XI, in Paris, and a post docoratal fellowship in cellular and molecular physiology at Harvard Medical School, Boston. Areas of specialty
molecular mechanisms by which male and female hormones program energy metabolism and influence the risks of obesity and diabetes For more, download Dr. Mauvais-Jarvis's Biosketch (Word document) Recent Publications Nohara K, Zhang Y, Waraich RS, Laque A, Tiano JP, Tong J, Münzberg H, Mauvais-Jarvis F. Early-life exposure to testosterone programs the hypothalmic melanocortin system. Endocrinology. 2011 Feb 8. PMID: 21303958 Mauvais-Jarvis F. Esrogen and androgen receptors: regulators of fuel homeostasis and emerging targets for diabetes and obesity..Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2011 Jan;22(1):24-33. Epub 2010 Nov 5. PMID: 21109497 Liu S, Navarro G, Mauvais-Jarvis F. Androgen excess produces systemic oxidative stress and predisposes to beta-cell failure in female mice. PLoS One . 2010 Jun 24;5(6):e11302. Wong W, Tiano J, Liu S, Hewitt S, Le May C, Dalle S, Katzenellenbogen J, Katzenellenbogen B, Korach K, Mauvais-Jarvis F. Extranuclear estrogen receptor-α stimulates NeuroD1 binding to the insulin promoter and favors insulin synthesis. Natl Acad Sci U S A. Epub 2010 July Liu S, Mauvais-Jarvis F. Minireview: Estrogenic protection of beta-cell failure in metabolic diseases. Endocrinology. 2010 Mar;151(3):859-64. Epub 2009 Dec 4. Review. Erratum in: Endocrinology. 2010 Sep;151(9):4597. PubMed PMID: 19966178; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2840685 Liu S, Mauvais-Jarvis F. Rapid, nongenomic estrogen actions protect pancreatic islet survival. Islets. 2009 Nov;1(3):273-275. PubMed PMID: 20634925
Liu S, Le May C, Wong WP, Ward RD, Clegg DJ, Marcelli M, Korach KS, Mauvais-Jarvis F. Importance of extranuclear estrogen receptor-alpha and membrane G protein-coupled estrogen receptor in pancreatic islet survival. Diabetes. 2009 Oct;58(10):2292-302. Epub 2009 Jul 8. PubMed PMID: 19587358;
Invited Presentations Symposia June 2010. American Diabetes Association. 70th Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL. Extranuclear estrogen receptors in beta-cells. Awards Dr Mauvais-Jarvis was elected in 2010 to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in recognition of his discovery of extranuclear estrogen receptors in protecting pancreatic islet function and survival. The ASCI, established in 1908, is one of the nation's oldest and most respected medical honor societies. The ASCI comprises physician-scientists from all medical specialties elected to the Society for their outstanding records of scholarly achievement in biomedical research. | 
