Kristen Nadeau MD, MS

Background 

Kristen Nadeau, MD, MS, received her BS and MD from the University of Wisconsin, and her MS from the University of Colorado. Dr. Nadeau currently sees patients at Children’s Hospital Colorado. 

Research + Funding 

Dr. Nadeau was the first seed grant recipient at the Ludeman Center with her first research project in 2007. Titled, “Problems with Exercise in Diabetic Adolescents Intervention (PEDAL),” her work hypothesized that cardiopulmonary fitness would be reduced in youth with type 2 diabetes in association with insulin resistance and cardiovascular dysfunction. This project led to the conclusion that adolescents with type 2 diabetes had significantly decreased VO(2)peak and insulin sensitivity, and increased soleus intramyocellular lipid, C-reactive protein, and IL-6 compared to obese or lean adolescents. Adolescents with type 2 diabetes also had significantly prolonged VO(2)kinetics, decreased work rate, vascular reactivity, and adiponectin, and increased left ventricular mass and fatty acids compared to lean adolescents. In multivariate linear regression analysis, insulin resistance primarily, and fasting free fatty acids and forearm blood flow secondarily, were significant independent predictors of VO(2)peak. Given the strong relationship between decreased cardiopulmonary fitness and increased mortality, these findings in children are especially concerning and represent early signs of impaired cardiac function. 

 This project helped her receive additional funding with larger sample sizes that allowed further investigation and larger samples to look at sex differences leading to intervention studies to target the abnormalities that were discovered. She highly values her support from the Ludeman Center who provided a collaborative atmosphere and educational offerings during her research work.  

Transforming Women’s Health 

Dr. Nadeau recognizes that there are higher rates of type 2 diabetes in adolescent girls versus boys caused by low levels of physical activity, poor sleep and depression. Specifically, girls in the American Indian/Alaska Native population, are prone to have type 2 diabetes where they are challenged with self-esteem problems and sexual violence. Her research focuses on the sex differences, such as implications of high testosterone in girls with polycystic ovarian syndrome, higher rates of non alcoholic fatty liver disease in adolescent boys versus girls, higher rates of responsiveness of girls to TZD’s, and the impact of gender affirming hormone therapy in adolescents on diabetes and cardiovascular risk. 

Currently, Dr. Nadeau’s research priority is the prevention of complications from youth-onset diabetes and obesity.