Diana Alba, MD

Assistant Professor

Diana Alba is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco. As a physician-scientist, her research program is focused on identifying the transcriptional pathways that regulate adipose tissue function during normal development and obesity. Her work investigates how adipose tissue dysfunction, particularly through fibrotic remodeling, drives insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction. By targeting these pathways, her lab aims to uncover novel therapeutic strategies to prevent or treat metabolic diseases through a deeper understanding of adipose tissue biology.
Education
2021 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training, University of California
Residency, 2013 - Internal Medicine, University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital
M.D., 2010 - , New York Medical College
Fellowship, - Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, University of California
Honors and Awards
  • Early-Career Research Excellence Award in Basic/Translational Science, UCSF-Bay Area Center for AIDS Research, 2022
  • Harold Amos Scholar, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2020
  • Minority Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, American Diabetes Association, 2018
Publications

  1. Datta R, Mukherjee D, Podolsky MJ, Yang CD, Alba DL, Singh S, Arnold TD, Koliwad S, Lizama CO, Atabai K. PTP1B mediates the inhibitory effect of MFGE8 on insulin signaling through the β5 integrin. The Journal of biological chemistry 2024. PMID: 38199575


  2. Kim EK, Hills NK, Cheng Z, Tucker C, Gutierrez M, Alba D, Murphy E, Kim S. Effects of Pharmacotherapy for the Treatment of Obesity in an Urban, Safety-Net Population. Cureus 2023. PMID: 38034269


  3. Datta R, Podolsky MJ, Yang CD, Alba DL, Singh S, Koliwad S, Lizama CO, Atabai K. MFGE8 inhibits insulin signaling through PTP1B. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2023. PMID: 37398282


  4. Mandel-Brehm C, Vazquez SE, Liverman C, Cheng M, Quandt Z, Kung AF, Parent A, Miao B, Disse E, Cugnet-Anceau C, Dalle S, Orlova E, Frolova E, Alba D, Michels A, Oftedal BE, Lionakis MS, Husebye ES, Agarwal AK, Li X, Zhu C, Li Q, Oral E, Brown R, Anderson MS, Garg A, DeRisi JL. Autoantibodies to Perilipin-1 Define a Subset of Acquired Generalized Lipodystrophy. Diabetes 2022. PMID: 35709010


  5. Nelson NG, Wu L, Maier MT, Lam D, Cheang R, Alba D, Huang A, Neumann DA, Hill T, Vagena E, Barsh GS, Medina MW, Krauss RM, Koliwad SK, Xu AW. A gene-diet interaction controlling relative intake of dietary carbohydrates and fats. AACE Clinical Case Reports 2022. PMID: 35051651


  6. Qi L, Zushin PH, Chang CF, Lee YT, Alba DL, Koliwad SK, Stahl A. Probing Insulin Sensitivity with Metabolically Competent Human Stem Cell-Derived White Adipose Tissue Microphysiological Systems. AACE Clinical Case Reports 2021. PMID: 34761526


  7. Ang QY, Alba DL, Upadhyay V, Bisanz JE, Cai J, Lee HL, Barajas E, Wei G, Noecker C, Patterson AD, Koliwad SK, Turnbaugh PJ. The East Asian gut microbiome is distinct from colocalized white subjects and connected to metabolic health. eLife 2021. PMID: 34617511


  8. Oguri Y, Shinoda K, Kim H, Alba DL, Bolus WR, Wang Q, Brown Z, Pradhan RN, Tajima K, Yoneshiro T, Ikeda K, Chen Y, Cheang RT, Tsujino K, Kim CR, Greiner VJ, Datta R, Yang CD, Atabai K, McManus MT, Koliwad SK, Spiegelman BM, Kajimura S. CD81 Controls Beige Fat Progenitor Cell Growth and Energy Balance via FAK Signaling. Cell 2020. PMID: 32615086


  9. Bess EN, Bisanz JE, Yarza F, Bustion A, Rich BE, Li X, Kitamura S, Waligurski E, Ang QY, Alba DL, Spanogiannopoulos P, Nayfach S, Koliwad SK, Wolan DW, Franke AA, Turnbaugh PJ. Genetic basis for the cooperative bioactivation of plant lignans by Eggerthella lenta and other human gut bacteria. Nature microbiology 2019. PMID: 31686027


  10. Moore PC, Cortez JT, Chamberlain CE, Alba D, Berger AC, Quandt Z, Chan A, Cheng MH, Bautista JL, Peng J, German MS, Anderson M, Oakes SA. Elastase 3B mutation links to familial pancreatitis with diabetes and pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The Journal of clinical investigation 2019. PMID: 31369399


  11. Godfrey C, Bremer A, Alba D, Apovian C, Koethe JR, Koliwad S, Lewis D, Lo J, McComsey GA, Eckard A, Srinivasa S, Trevillyan J, Palmer C, Grinspoon S. Obesity and Fat Metabolism in HIV-infected Individuals: Immunopathogenic Mechanisms and Clinical Implications. The Journal of infectious diseases 2019. PMID: 30893434


  12. Mason AE, Jhaveri K, Schleicher S, Almeida C, Hartman A, Wackerly A, Alba D, Koliwad SK, Epel ES, Aschbacher K. Sweet cognition: The differential effects of glucose consumption on attentional food bias in individuals of lean and obese status. Physiology & behavior 2019. PMID: 31002858


  13. Alba D, Wu L, Cawthon PM, Mulligan K, Lang T, Patel S, King NJ, Carter JT, Rogers SJ, Posselt AM, Stewart L, Shoback DM, Schafer AL. Changes in lean mass, absolute and relative muscle strength, and physical performance after gastric bypass surgery. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism 2019. PMID: 30657952


  14. Masharani U, Alba D. Methadone-Associated Hypoglycemia in Chronic Renal Failure Masquerading as an Insulinoma. Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) 2018. PMID: 29145621


  15. Alba DL, Farooq JA, Lin MYC, Schafer AL, Shepherd J, Koliwad SK. Subcutaneous Fat Fibrosis Links Obesity to Insulin Resistance in Chinese-Americans. 2018. PMID: 29846621


  16. Hasegawa Y, Ikeda K, Chen Y, Alba DL, Stifler D, Shinoda K, Hosono T, Maretich P, Yang Y, Ishigaki Y, Chi J, Cohen P, Koliwad SK, Kajimura S. Repression of Adipose Tissue Fibrosis through a PRDM16-GTF2IRD1 Complex Improves Systemic Glucose Homeostasis. Cell metabolism 2018. PMID: 29320702


  17. Lee TL, Li Y, Alba D, Vong QP, Wu SM, Baxendale V, Rennert OM, Lau YF, Chan WY. Developmental staging of male murine embryonic gonad by SAGE analysis. Journal of genetics and genomics = Yi chuan xue bao 2009. PMID: 19376482


  18. Lee TL, Alba D, Baxendale V, Rennert OM, Chan WY. Application of transcriptional and biological network analyses in mouse germ-cell transcriptomes. Genomics 2006. PMID: 16678385


  19. Chan WY, Lee TL, Wu SM, Ruszczyk L, Alba D, Baxendale V, Rennert OM. Transcriptome analyses of male germ cells with serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE). Molecular and cellular endocrinology 2006. PMID: 16413108