Diabetes. Heart disease. Kidney disease. Neurodegeneration. They may seem like isolated problems, affecting different organs in different ways.
But a central factor links them all: metabolism, how the body stores and uses energy. Far from just controlling weight, metabolism is a central factor in the health of organs, tissues, and cells-foundational to both health and disease.
Now, an interdisciplinary research hub at University of Utah Health is tackling some of the biggest problems in human health at their source by uniting scientists in the study of metabolism.
Established in 2007 as the Diabetes and Metabolism Research Center, the newly renamed Center for Metabolic Health demonstrates the power of collaboration and sets U of U Health's long-term commitment to metabolic health as a central priority. CMH was officially redesignated on September 30, 2025, at the center's annual symposium, which brings together researchers across fields to share cutting-edge discoveries and spark new scientific partnerships.
The center's disease-agnostic approach empowers researchers to find unexpected connections and make discoveries faster, says Scott Summers, PhD, co-director of the center and professor and chair of the Department of Nutrition and Integrative Physiology in the University of Utah College of Health. "The disease didn't matter because we started to see the commonalities," Summers says. "A failing heart looked like a tumor, which looked like a failing beta cell in diabetes." What they had in common was shared metabolic features, he adds. "By putting those researchers in the same place with the same tools, the science started to accelerate."
Researchers at the center see metabolism as the next biomedical frontier, and their work reflects that vision. "We think most big discoveries in health are going to come from metabolism," Summers says.
From gut bacteria to insulin
For June Round, PhD, professor of pathology and CMH investigator, the ability to tap into metabolic expertise has allowed her research to venture into an entirely new area.
Trained as an immunologist, her lab has historically focused on how gut bacteria impact health; pancreatic function wasn't in her wheelhouse. But when she encountered striking zebrafish research suggesting that microbes could influence the development of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, she saw an opportunity. "I remember hearing about the zebrafish studies at a conference and thinking this would be amazing if this was true in humans," Round recalls.
In the center's collaborative environment, her team found that, in mice, human gut microbes from a narrow early-life window could promote pancreatic cell development. The resulting research demonstrated, for the first time, that human microbiota can influence pancreatic development-a finding with profound implications for diabetes prevention and treatment.
"I have no training in how to measure insulin or study pancreas biology," Round says. "The biggest thing I got from the center is the connections with people that make this type of study possible. It's really an integration of microbiology, metabolism, and immunology, and no one person could do that."
From foundational insights to new medicines
Research in the lab of Jared Rutter, PhD, professor of biochemistry and co-director of the center, exemplifies CMH's mission to turn basic metabolic insights into therapies. Rutter's lab investigates the biochemical conversations by which cells sense and respond to their nutritional and metabolic environment. This work has uncovered new mechanisms in diseases such as heart failure.
Rutter's work uncovered a link between recovery from heart failure and changes in the metabolism of a molecule called pyruvate. He's now collaborating with clinicians at the center to test a drug that could aid heart recovery by tweaking pyruvate metabolism. With Kevin Hicks, PhD, assistant professor of nutrition and integrative physiology, Rutter also developed a high-throughput technology that finds new interactions between proteins and other molecules involved in metabolism. The technology has since moved into the private sector and resulted in new drug discoveries.
"These are nice exemplars of what the center enables," Rutter says. "We've taken a very active approach to moving our lab discoveries into the private sector, where they can really impact patients."
New connections spark new discoveries
Summers, who uncovered the role of metabolic molecules called ceramides in diabetes and heart disease, also has work advancing into the clinic. A ceramide-lowering drug his group developed in collaboration with Centaurus Therapeutics will enter clinical trials in late 2025. As co-director of the center, he emphasizes that the "inclusive tent" structure bringing together researchers across disciplines is pivotal to the center's translational reach.
"That's what's so good about this place," Summers says. "It's the conversations with brilliant people, each exploring how metabolites shape cell function. Seeing how one pathway intersects with another has sparked all kinds of ideas. That's been the most fun."
