Zan Gao, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Kinesiology and director of the Physical Activity Epidemiology Laboratory, together with researchers from the U of M, has successfully secured a 5-year NIH R01 research grant for $3.68 million. He is serving as co-investigator on the study.

The project titled “Measurement of glucose homeostasis in human brain by NMR” (2R01NS035192-17) will be led by Elizabeth Seaquist, M.D. and Gulin Oz, Ph.D., both professors in the School of Medicine. The goal of the study is to investigate how hypoglycemia leads to impaired awareness of hypoglycemia in individuals with type 1 diabetes using magnetic resonance spectroscopy and neurochemical approaches. Gao will serve as the physical activity specialist on the team to lead the measurement and analysis of patients’ physical activity behavior, sedentary behavior, and sleep patterns.