Marissa Lightbourne, M.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Research Physician:
Section on Translational Diabetes and Metabolic Syndromes, Diabetes, Endocrinology, & Obesity Branch
Scientific Focus Areas: Clinical Research
Professional Experience
- Assistant Research Physician, Staff Clinician, NIDDK, NIH, 2021-present
- Assistant Research Physician, Staff Clinician, NICHD, NIH, 2019-2021
- Fellow, NICHD, NIH, 2015-2019
- Chief Resident, Wayne State University/Detroit Medical Center/Children’s Hospital of Michigan, 2014-2015
- Resident, Wayne State University/Detroit Medical Center/Children’s Hospital of Michigan, 2010-2014
- M.D., University of Minnesota Medical School, 2005-2010
- M.P.H., University of Minnesota School of Public Health, 2003-2005
Current Research
Our group studies pathophysiology and clinical therapeutics for rare disorders of extreme insulin resistance including lipodystrophy, mutations of the insulin receptor, and autoimmune conditions affecting insulin signaling. I am particularly interested in understanding how insulin signally pathways affect insulin resistance especially in cardiovascular disease.
Select Publications
- Apolipoprotein CIII and Angiopoietin-like Protein 8 are Elevated in Lipodystrophy and Decrease after Metreleptin.
- Lightbourne M, Wolska A, Abel BS, Rother KI, Walter M, Kushchayeva Y, Auh S, Shamburek RD, Remaley AT, Muniyappa R, Brown RJ.
- J Endocr Soc (2021 Feb 1) 5:bvaa191. Abstract/Full Text
- Genetics of Lipodystrophy.
- Lightbourne M, Brown RJ.
- Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am (2017 Jun) 46:539-554. Abstract/Full Text
Research in Plain Language
We study patients who have rare, extreme forms of insulin resistance, meaning that the body produces the hormone insulin, but insulin does not work properly to control blood sugars. Examples of these diseases are
- lipodystrophy, which is loss of fatty tissues in parts of the body;
- mutations—permanent changes—in an insulin receptor, which is an area on the outer part of a cell that binds to insulin;
- autoantibodies—antibodies directed to one’s self—to the insulin receptors; and
- other related problems.
We are trying to determine how insulin resistance relates to heart and vascular disease.
Last Reviewed July 2024