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Faculty Profile

Robert H. Eckel, M.D. Charles A. Boettcher Endowed Chair in Atherosclerosis; Professor of Medicine - Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes, and Cardiology; Professor of Physiology and Biophysics; Program Director, Adult General Clinical Research Center; University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center; Aurora, Colorado

Dr. Eckel received both his Bachelor of Sciences in Bacteriology (1969) and his Medical Doctorate (1973) from the University of Cincinnati. He did his Housestaff training in Internal Medicine at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals (1974-1976) and from there did a senior fellowship in Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of Washington in Seattle. Dr. Eckel was then appointed as Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine (1979) where he is now Professor of Medicine and holds the Charles A. Boettcher Endowed Chair in Atherosclerosis. In addition, Dr. Eckel has held joint appointments in the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Genetics (1989-1995), the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Colorado State University, and an adjunct appointments in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and in the Department of Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  He is also the Director of the Lipid Clinic at University Hospital.

Presently Dr. Eckel’s research is focused on the relationship between nutrition, insulin action, energy balance and body weight regulation with experiments carried out in both humans and mice.  He is also is taking a leadership role in the development of a program in preventive cardiology at UCDHSC. Dr. Eckel’s research has led to his involvement and presidency in a number of national organizations, including the American Heart Association, the Western Society for Clinical Investigation, the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, and the Association for Patient Oriented Research.

Selected Publications

  • Poirier P, Giles TD, Bray GA, Hong Y, Stern JS, Pi-Sunyer X, Eckel RH. Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease: Pathophysiology, Evaluation, and Effect of Weight Loss; An Update of the 1997 American Heart Association Scientific Statement on Obesity and Heart Disease From the Obesity Committee of the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism. Circulation. 2006 Feb 14;113(6):898-918. PUBMED

  • Eckel RH, Hernandez TL, Bell ML, Weil KM, Shepard TY, Grunwald GK, Sharp TA, Francis CC, and Hill JO. Carbohydrate balance predicts weight and fat gain in adults. Am J Clin Nutr, 2006; 83: 803 – 808. PUBMED

  • Netea MG, Joosten LAB, Lewis E, Jensen DR, Voshol PJ, Fantuzzi G, Kullberg BJ, Tack CJ, van Krieken H, Kim S-H, Stalenhoef AF, van de Loo FA, Verschueren I, Pulawa L, Akira S, Eckel RH, Dinarello CA, van den Berg W, van der Meer JWM. Deficiency of interleukin-18 in mice leads to obesity, insulin resistance, and hyperglycemia. Nat Med. 2006 Jun;12(6):650-6. PUBMED

  • Eckel RH. Preventive cardiology by lifestyle intervention: opportunity and/or challenge? Presidential address at the 2005 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions. Circulation. 2006;113:2657-2661. PUBMED

  • Hernandez TL, Capell WH, Wolfe P, Gerard LA, Eckel RH. Time course of C-reactive protein reduction with simvastatin therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Am J Cardiol.Am J Cardiol. 2006 Dec 15;98(12):1656-9 PUBMED

  • Eckel RH, Grundy SM, Zimmet PZ. The Metabolic Syndrome: Epidemiology, Mechanisms and Therapeutics. Lancet 365:1415-28, 2005. PUBMED