.png?sfvrsn=90850fbb_0 "Irene Schauer")
Irene Schauer MD, PhD
(She/Her)
Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes, University of Colorado School of Medicine
- Endocrinology (SOM)
Email Address:irene.schauer@cuanschutz.edu
Alt Email Address:irene.schauer@ucdenver.edu
Primary Phone:303-724-2879
Mailing Address:
- CU Anschutz
Academic Office One
12631 East 17th Avenue
Aurora, CO 80045
Background
Irene E. Schauer, PhD, MD, received her BA in chem and biology from the University of Tennessee, her PhD from UC Berkeley, and her MD from the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She currently sees patients at the VA Hospital, the Aspen Valley Hospital clinic and at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital.
Research + Funding
With an interest in how people with diabetes present and cope with their diagnosis and how women are more profoundly affected than men, she began her Ludeman Center-funded research project in 2008. Titled, “Effect of Free Fatty Acid-Induced Endothelial Dysfunction and Insulin Resistance on Exercise Capacity in Healthy Subjects,” the study used an infusion of fatty acids to induce insulin resistance in young healthy participants to assess whether acutely induced insulin resistance caused the defects in exercise parameters that are routinely seen in people with type 2 diabetes. Results showed that max exercise was not affected, but the increase in oxygen consumption with exercise was slowed causing greater perceived exertion. She credits the Ludeman Center for their collection of great collaborators and mentors they provide to early-career researchers to advance women’s health.
Transforming Women’s Health
Her work as a fellow with Jane Reusch, MD, on fatty acid effects on cultured endothelial cells was the impetus for pursuing a career in women’s health. Currently, her research priority focuses on understanding the benefits and mechanisms of exercise in people with and without diabetes.
Key Publications
CREB downregulation in vascular disease: a common response to cardiovascular risk. Schauer IE, Knaub LA, Lloyd M, Watson PA, Gliwa C, Lewis KE, Chair A, Klemm DJ, Gunter JM, Bouchard R, McDonald TO, O'Brien KD, Reusch JE. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2010 Apr;30(4):733-41. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.109.199133. Epub 2010 Feb 11.
Insulin resistance, defective insulin-mediated fatty acid suppression, and coronary artery calcification in subjects with and without type 1 diabetes: The CACTI study. Schauer IE, Snell-Bergeon JK, Bergman BC, Maahs DM, Kretoqski A, Eckel RH, Rewers M. Diabetes. 2011 Jan;60(1):306-14. doi: 10.2337/db10-0328. Epub 2010 Oct 26. PMID: 20978091
Nonesterified fatty acid exposure activates protective and mitogenic pathways in vascular smooth muscle cells by alternate signaling pathways. Schauer IE, Reusch JE. Metabolism. 2009 Mar;58(3):319-27. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2008.10.003.
