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Distinguished Faculty
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| Biography: Richard Bergman, PhD |
 Dr. Richard Nathan Bergman is an internationally renowned expert in the areas of diabetes and obesity research. He holds an undergraduate degree in Engineering from Case-Western Reserve University (Case Alumni Scholar) and the Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Pittsburgh. Professor Bergman has been contributing important research in these areas for over 30 years, and has published 327 original papers. Bergman is the Keck Foundation Chair in Medicine at the USC Keck School of Medicine. He is also Professor and Chairman of Physiology/Biophysics and Professor of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Bergman pioneered the use of engineering technology to understand the pathogenesis of diabetes. He is famous for the invention of the so-called "minimal model" approach to assessment of metabolic function and risk for disease. He applied principles of engineering to define a simple but powerful mathematical model of the intricate relationships between insulin secretion, insulin action and other metabolic factors. Using this model, he proved that one may obtain a comprehensive metabolic portrait of metabolic function. The clinical test using this model provides a single parameter, the "disposition index," which is presently the most powerful predictor of future development of Type 2 diabetes in at-risk individuals. Almost all gene variants which assign risk for Type 2 diabetes have been shown to relate to the disposition index. The Bergman modeling approach has been used in many hundreds of clinical, epidemiological and genetic studies of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer research. Also, Bergman's laboratory has made seminal contributions to understanding of insulin resistance and b-cell function. They were the first to demonstrate insulin's important indirect control of liver glucose production, and pioneered the importance of insulin transport from the blood to the cells in the insulin resistance syndrome. Richard Bergman has won numerous honors for his work, including the "Outstanding Diabetes Investigator (Lilly Award)" from the American Diabetes Association, the "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Los Angeles ADA, the "TOPS" award from the Obesity Society (NAASO). Bergman was awarded the Banting Medal in 2006, the highest award in diabetes research in the United States. Bergman delivered the Banting Lecture as well as numerous other prestigious lectureships, including the Mosenthal Lectureship, the Schwartz Lectureship, the Berson Lectureship, and the Kroc lectureship at Baylor in 2010. In 2009 Dr. Bergman was awarded the Naomi Berrie Prize for diabetes research from Columbia University in New York. Dr. Bergman is a well-regarded musician in the blues genre, and has performed at numerous diabetes and obesity events including NAASO in 2004. Richard has been married to Ronni, a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner for 38 years and they have 2 grown children and 5 grandchildren. Their family is their greatest achievement. |
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