LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center is adding a metabolic surgery center that will allow the Baton Rouge facility to research new tools in the fight against obesity. Pennington’s Executive Director John Kirwan says the new program will help them research how lap band surgery can reverse Type Two diabetes.
“Many of these heavy patients have type two diabetes, and when they come in for the surgery their diabetes goes away within two days after the surgery, before they begin losing weight,” says Kirwan.
The facility will also offer bariatric and metabolic surgery on-site for patients.
Kirwan says they have some thoughts as to why bariatric patients see a reversal of their diabetes, and research at the new facility may help confirm those suspicions.
“It may be related to some proteins that are secreted from the gut, that are regulating your blood sugar levels, and the surgery changes that physiology,” says Kirwan.
The facility will add 55 new direct jobs, and generate an estimated 100 million in economic activity over its first four years. Kirwan says it will also attract world-class professionals to Baton Rouge.
“Very unique training and a very high level of qualifications are required to conduct the work, and correspondingly they are high paying positions,” says Kirwan.
The program is expected to attract more than 20-million dollars in obesity research money.
