Robert G. Bennett

Departments of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198

Biography

Dr. Bennett is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Biochemistry at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He is also a Research Scientist at the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System, where he is a past Chair and current member of the Research & Development Committee. He currently serves on the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at UNMC. For the past 15 years he has conducted research related to the insulin/relaxin superfamily of hormones. Early work focused on the actions of the protease insulin-degrading enzyme, which degrades insulin, relaxin and other peptide hormones, and may be related to the development of both diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. Current research focuses on elucidating the signaling pathways activated by relaxin through its receptor, and analysis of downstream targets. Recent work has identified peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma as a novel target of relaxin signaling. He is also actively exploring the role of relaxin in fibrotic liver disease, inflammation, and liver repair after injury.

Research Interest

Antifibrotic effects of the hormone relaxin and related peptides; - Expression and signalling of relaxin receptors; - Internalization and degradation of relaxin, insulin, and related hormones; - The role of insulin-degrading enzyme in diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and other amyloidoses.