Deborah Marie Muoio

Deb Muoio is professor in the Departments of Medicine and Pharmacology & Cancer Biology, George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Disease, and Associate Director of the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute (DMPI). She is viewed nationally and internationally as a leader in the fields of diabetes, obesity, exercise physiology, and mitochondrial energy metabolism. Her laboratory investigates mechanisms of metabolic regulation, with emphasis on molecular events that link lifestyle factors such as over nutrition and physical inactivity to metabolic disorders, including obesity, diabetes, and heart failure. Her program features a translational approach that combines work in animal and cell-based models with human studies, using genetic engineering, molecular biology and mass spectrometry-based metabolomics and proteomics as tools to understand the interplay between mitochondrial physiology and cardiometabolic health. Her laboratory developed a sophisticated platform for deep and comprehensive assessment of mitochondrial bioenergetics and energy transduction. Her team is integrating this new platform with metabolomics, proteomics, and metabolic flux analysis to gain insights into mechanisms by which mitochondria modulate insulin action and metabolic resilience. She has published more than 120 papers in prominent journals such as Cell, Cell Metabolism, Circulation, Circulation Research, Diabetes, and JCI Insight. Dr. Muoio’s laboratory has enjoyed longstanding support from the NIDDK and NHLBI.