The Wolberger Lab is interested in the structural and mechanistic basis for transcriptional regulation and ubiquitin signaling as it relates to the integrity and expression of the genome. We use x-ray crystallography, enzymology, cell-based assays and a variety of biophysical tools to gain insights into the mechanisms underlying these essential cellular processes.

Our research aims to expand the understanding of how hormones regulate pancreatic islets in health and disease. Currently, a major focus of the lab is to define the normal adaptations of islets, particularly insulin-producing beta-cells, to the metabolic stress of pregnancy, and to determine how defective adaptation contributes to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). We anticipate that elucidating physiologic mechanisms of gestational beta-cell adaptation will identify novel therapeutic strategies to expand functional beta-cell mass which would help in the treatment of all types of diabetes.