Michael W. Steffes, Ph.D.

Current Position(s): Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Medical School

Research Interests: Biochemical pathology, diabetic nephropathy, laboratory clinical service

Dr. Steffes has a long-standing research interest in the natural history of diabetic nephropathy. State-of-the-art studies of renal function and structure from kidney biopsy material are undertaken to understand the pathophysiology of diabetic nephropathy. Morphometric techniques are used to explore the two- and three-dimensional consequences of an expanding mesangium in diabetic renal disease. Steffes and his colleagues are also investigating factors that may alter course of diabetic nephropathy, for example, factors that make some patients more susceptible to the disease and others that help identify those who will develop symptoms. They have worked closely with the UMHC Pancreas Transplant Program in studies showing that pancreas transplantation arrests the progression of diabetic nephropathy.

In other research, Steffes headed UMHC's participation in the successful NIH multi-center Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT). The study, which was published in 1993 in the New England Journal of Medicine, addressed the question of whether optimal glycemic control could prevent the development, or even change the course, of characteristic diabetic complications of the renal, nervous, visual and cardiovascular systems. Steffes is now actively involved in a NIH-funded 10-year follow-up study called the Epidemiology of Diabetes Intervention and Complications (EDIC). The departmental clinical studies laboratory completes assays for the 29 clinical centers participating in the study. Also, the CSCL under the direction of Michael Steffes is the central biochemistry laboratory for several other studies.