Sandra Galic Australian Diabetes Society and the Australian Diabetes Educators Association Annual Scientific Meeting 2014

Sandra Galic

Sandra Galic graduated in Biochemistry from the University of Tuebingen and obtained her PhD degree from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Monash University in 2008. During this time she has worked in the laboratory of Tony Tiganis on understanding the role of protein phosphatases in the regulation of receptor tyrosine kinases in vivo. This led to the identification of the phosphatase TCPTP as a negative regulator of insulin receptor signalling that contributes to the development of insulin resistance in obesity. Her postdoctoral research was under the supervision of Gregory Steinberg and Bruce Kemp at the St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne focussing on the physiological actions of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). Her work on the role of hematopoietic AMPK in the regulation of whole-body metabolism has shed new light on the function of macrophage lipid metabolism as a crucial component in the control of adipose tissue inflammation. Her subsequent research on AMPK’s function as a regulator of hepatic energy metabolism helped identify AMPK-mediated inhibition of lipid synthesis as a long-sought mechanism for the anti-diabetic actions of metformin. Her current work is centred on a better understanding of AMPK’s role in the central nervous system and the potential of AMPK inhibition as a therapeutic target for appetite and body weight regulation.