Kimberley Bruce PhD
(She/Her)
Associate Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine
- Endocrinology (SOM)
Email Address:kimberley.bruce@cuanschutz.edu
Mailing Address:
- CU Anschutz
Research I South
12801 East 17th Avenue
Aurora, CO 80045
Background
Kimberley D. Bruce, PhD, received her degrees from the University of Portsmouth, UK, and from the University of Southampton, UK.
Research + Funding
In 2020, Dr. Bruce was awarded the Junior Faculty Award from the Ludeman Center for Women’s Health Research, and in 2023 received the Ludeman Center Interdisciplinary Research Award in collaboration with Miguel Lanaspa-Garcia, PhD. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating and ultimately fatal disease that disproportionately affects women. Despite the marked impact of AD on women’s mental and physical health, the mechanisms that increase AD risk in women remain elusive. New data from Dr. Bruce’s laboratory has shown that a molecule (e.g., GLUT5) needed to transport fructose into brain cells is more abundant in females than males and may lead to cellular dysfunction and increased AD risk in women. Their project titled, “Does GLUT5-mediated Fructose Metabolism Drive Risk in Females?” will determine how fructose changes the metabolism and function of key brain cells and whether drugs that inhibit GLUT5 can help maintain appropriate cellular functions to reduce AD risk in women. Their findings will provide critical proof-of-concept data that will form the basis of preclinical drug development studies.
Transforming Women’s Health
Dr. Bruce’s current research priority is understanding how changes in brain metabolism drive neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis, and designing new strategies that restore metabolism to mitigate disease. She is driven to understand the molecular mechanisms that increase women’s risk of neurodegenerative diseases.
