.png?sfvrsn=938a0fbb_0 "Teri Hernandez")
Teresa Hernandez PhD, RN
(She/Her)
Professor and Associate Dean of Research and Scholarship, College of Nursing
- Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes; Pediatric Nurse Scientist, Children’s Hospital Colorado
- Endocrinology (SOM)
Email Address:teri.hernandez@cuanschutz.edu
Primary Phone:303-724-3943
Mailing Address:
- CU Anschutz
Academic Office One
12631 East 17th Avenue
Aurora, CO 80045
Background
Teri L. Hernandez, PhD, received her BS from Northern Illinois University, her MS from University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and her PhD from University of Colorado Denver. She is a cardiac nurse by training and has spent many hours keeping vigilant watch over men and women with coronary heart disease. As a young nurse, she vowed to dedicate her career to the prevention of cardiovascular disease and its sequelae.
Research + Funding
As a scientist, Dr. Hernandez is interested in insulin resistance as it transitions over the lifespan from normal to a factor that can promote disease. Her work focuses on understanding the journey to cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, particularly in women. In 2011, Dr. Hernandez began her Ludeman Center-funded research project titled, “Estradiol-Mediated Changes in Patterns of Glycemia within Postmenopausal Women.”
Secondary analyses of large randomized controlled trials of estrogen-based hormone therapy have found a significantly lower incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in postmenopausal women randomized to hormone therapy when compared with placebo. If the effect of estradiol on insulin function is accompanied by changes in blood sugar profiles, this may reveal a unique role for estrogen-based hormone treatment in the prevention of type 2 diabetes in women after menopause.
Specific Aim: To measure changes in 24-hr patterns of blood sugar using a continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) in women after menopause. These patterns in blood sugar patterns were compared in treated with short-term transdermal estradiol or placebo.
H1: PM women will have lower FBG when treated with EST compared to PLAC.
H2: PM women will have a lower postprandial (PP) glucose excursion following breakfast independent of FBG (2-hr incremental area-under-the-curve, IAUC) when treated with EST compared to PLAC.
H3: PM women will have lower 24-hour glucose AUC and lower mean 24-hour BG when treated with EST compared to PLAC.
She recognizes the collaborative spirit and values of the Ludeman Center that created a positive experience for her.
Transforming Women’s Health
“I am fortunate to play a small role in the lives of young women as they transition to motherhood and experience insulin resistance as a wonderful adaptation. However, many of them have gestational diabetes, when the adaptation has promotes higher blood sugar. Because of this, I feel as though I have glimpsed their future risk for diabetes in my time on the cardiac wards. I am committed to generating evidence to understand women’s cardiovascular and blood sugar health across the lifespan.”—Dr. Hernandez.
