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Metabolic health focus of latest SOAR in DOM Forum

Feb. 18, 2026
David Mogollon, Communications Manager, Department of Medicine

Twenty vignettes and 18 posters made for an exciting evening, including a welcome from the new Endocrinology chief and SW CACTI partners at the University of New Mexico joining a first cross-campus collaboration on hormonal and metabolic health research.

[Sparking Ideas lightning round talk presenters present at SOAR in DOM Forum on "Hormonal & Metabolic Drivers of Health & Disease," 2.3.2026, at BIO5]

Sparking Ideas lightning round 2-minute talk presenters who were at SOAR in DOM Forum on “Hormonal & Metabolic Drivers of Health & Disease,” on Feb. 3 at the BIO5 Institute. Twenty talks were given along with 18 other poster presentations made. See the agenda, a mini-photo gallery and a link to more photos below.

David Mogollon, Department of Medicine
[Image of flyer for SOAR in DOM research forum on Hormonal and Metabolic Drivers of Health and Disease, Feb. 3, 2026]

With 20 invited speakers and 18 poster presenters, the third SOAR in DOM Forum was packed with content focused on the theme of “Hormonal and Metabolic Drivers of Health & Disease.”

Held once more in Room 103 of the BIO5 Institute, the event — whose acronym stands for Sharing Opportunities & Achievements in Research in the Department of Medicine — was well attended.

[SOAR in DOM Forum host Janet Funk, MD (center), and the Division of Hematology & Oncology’s Sima Ehsani, MD (left) listen to NIDDK Phoenix’s Fehmida Farid Khan, PhD, explain the research behind her poster on, “In vitro analyses of variation affecting CYP26B1 TV3 as a regulator of body mass index.”]

SOAR in DOM Forum host Janet Funk, MD (center), and the Division of Hematology & Oncology’s Sima Ehsani, MD (left) listen to NIDDK Phoenix’s Fehmida Farid Khan, PhD, explain the research behind her poster on, “In vitro analyses of variation affecting CYP26B1 TV3 as a regulator of body mass index.”

David Mogollon, Department of Medicine

After DOM Vice Chair of Research Janet Funk, MD’s introductory remarks, Ronadip Banerjee, MD, PhD, the new chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism, welcomed participants and guests, provided a few comments on his goals for the division and announced a renewal of Endocrinology Grand Rounds in the fall semester.

“This forum,” Dr. Funk noted, “marked the first time that U of A researchers and trainees working in this area in the DOM and across campus — including the College of Medicine – Phoenix — have had an opportunity to gather together to share ideas and research findings.”

She added that an important goal of the forums is that they “spark” new collaborations and build community while highlighting research achievements, for which feedback she received afterward proved was certainly the case.

[Sally Radovick, MD, U of A leader of SW CACTI alliance and Clinical & Translational Science Institute director. She spoke on: “Neuroendocrine control of reproduction & metabolism.”]

Sally Radovick, MD, U of A leader of SW CACTI alliance and Clinical & Translational Science Institute director. She spoke on: “Neuroendocrine control of reproduction & metabolism.”

David Mogollon, Dept. of Medicine

Among invited guest speakers was Leslie Baier, PhD, acting chief for the Phoenix Epidemiology & Clinical Research Branch of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, a unit of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Baier, however, was unable to attend due to the partial federal government shutdown. In her stead, Yann Kilmentidis, PhD, MS, an epidemiology & biostatistics professor in the Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health (MEZCOPH), presented briefly on her behalf on the topic, “Multifactoral mechanisms contributing to metabolic disease.” He also spoke later during two-minute Sparking Ideas lightning rounds on his own topic, “Genetic and omic epidemiology of cardiometabolic traits and diseases.”

Other DOM faculty presenting during those lightning rounds (and their divisions) included: Jennifer W. Bea, PhD* (Hematology & Oncology); Dawn Coletta, PhD (Endocrinology); Josh Farr, PhD (Rheumatology); Edward Gelmann, MD (Hematology & Oncology); Sima Ehsani, MD (Hematology & Oncology); and Jennifer Stern, PhD (Endocrinology). *Dr. Bea’s primary appointment is as an MEZCOPH health promotion sciences professor; she’s also Body Composition Research Lab director at the U of A Collaboratory for Metabolic Disease & Treatment; co-leader, Cancer Prevention & Control Program, and director, Behavioral Measurement & Intervention Shared Resource, at the U of A Cancer Center.

[University of New Mexico virtual presenters (and their talk titles): Kim Leslie, MD (“Hormone therapy for endometrial cancer”); Meilian Liu, PhD (“Fat hormones, adipocyte physiology & adipose tissue inflammation”); and Eric Prossnitz, PhD (“Mechanisms of action & targeting of the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor GPER”).]

University of New Mexico virtual presenters (and talk titles): Kim Leslie, MD (“Hormone therapy for endometrial cancer”); Meilian Liu, PhD (“Fat hormones, adipocyte physiology & adipose tissue inflammation”); and Eric Prossnitz, PhD (“Mechanisms of action & targeting of the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor GPER”).

Additional lightning-round presenters included three faculty from the University of New Mexico — Kimberly Leslie, MD, Meilian Liu, PhD, and Eric Prossnitz, PhD — who presented virtually from Albuquerque as a nod to the U of A/UNM alliance cemented with last fall’s approval of a $43.6 million NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award won via the jointly run Southwest Center for Advancing Clinical and Translational Innovation, or SW CACTI. Also presenting was Sally Radovick, MD, MS, a pediatrics professor who leads SW CACTI at the U of A and is director of the Clinical & Translational Research Institute here.

For more information on these and other presentations, see the SOAR in DOM: Metabolism Agenda here. It also includes a list of poster presenters and their topics as well.

Poster award winners (and their topics) were: Undergraduate Research Award — Fabiola Mendoza Siquieros, Applied Biotechnology student, College of Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences (“Microtubule hyperacetylation as a mechanism of insulin resistance”); Graduate Research Award — Hannah Brooks, Department of Immunobiology research associate  (“Targeting cellular senescence to alleviate skeletal fragility in mice with Type 2 diabetes”); and Research Excellence Award — Grace Lee, PhD, Department of Pharmacology research associate (“Prolactin promotes endometriosis & comorbid migraine-like pain”).

If DOM faculty and staff members have ideas for future themes for SOAR in DOM research forum events, please contact Janet Funk, MD, or James K. Liao, MD, chair of the department.

ALSO SEE: 
“‘Hallmarks of Aging’ a topical dynamo at 2nd SOAR in DOM Forum” | Posted Nov. 17, 2025
“SOAR in DOM Forum promotes greater exchange in growing DOM research community” | Posted April 29, 2025

(Photos courtesy of David Mogollon, Department of Medicine)

For more photos from the SOAR in DOM Forum – Hormonal & Metabolic Drivers of Health, see this link.

MINI-PHOTO GALLERY
Click images to enlarge and for captions:

Press Inquiries

David Mogollon
mogollon@arizona.edu
520-626-1137