Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Medical Genetics

Our division  specializes in the research, diagnosis and treatment of both common and unusual diseases that exact a huge burden of suffering in our communities, including:

Diabetes and the complications of diabetes

Hypoglycemia

High cholesterol and other lipid disorders

Osteoporosis and other bone diseases

Thyroid and Pituitary disorders

Obesity

Genetic diseases affecting metabolism or sexual development

Diseases affecting any of the body's hormone 'glands' such as the pituitary, gonads, or adrenal glands

Our goals are to strive for excellence in patient care, teaching, and research. I believe that all our personnel take pride in the work they do and challenge themselves to perform to the best of their ability.  While this web site features our faculty, our success depends on the work of multiple nurses, secretaries, dietitians, statisticians, laboratory workers, fellows, and students who may not be featured here, but who are integral to our service.  The final common denominator and focus of our teamwork, however, is our patients.  We endeavor to provide optimal patient care and to make new discoveries through research to improve their lives.

Our patients are seen in various settings, clinics, and centers in the Charleston area. Patients may be seen in private consultation, in the Diabetes Center, in the Thyroid Center, or in the Cholesterol Center.  The Diabetes Center provides intensive management programs for diabetes patients (IDEAL Program), and also incorporates the Diabetes Initiative of South Carolina with a state-wide mandate for diabetes outreach, education, and surveillance.

With respect to teaching, we participate in the training of doctors sub-specializing in the treatment of Endocrine Diseases (fellows), residents and interns in Internal Medicine, medical students, and individuals in various nursing, dietetic, and pharmacy training programs.  In addition, our scientists are actively involved in research training involving multiple post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, M.D./PH.D. students, medical students, and undergraduate students.

Our research strengths are in three areas:
     the metabolic/molecular/genetic basis of obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus; 
     lipidology; 
     diabetes complications and vascular disease (John A. Colwell Diabetes Research Center).

Our investigators have national and international reputations, and the work is funded by the NIH; Department of Veterans Affairs; national Foundations, such as the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Heart Association; South Carolina state government; and pharmaceutical companies.  Philanthropic donations from individuals and foundations, such as the W.M. Keck Foundation, also support our work. 

The emphasis on Diabetes is driven by the facts that Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in adults, kidney failure resulting in dialysis, and amputations, a major contributor to stroke and heart disease, and accounts for more health care costs than any other single disease in the United States (one in every seven health care dollars).  Because these numbers reflect the suffering of our patients, these problems merit our focus in research.  The problem of diabetes is even more acute in our minority communities, and many of our community-based efforts involve our African-American patients.

Louis M. Luttrell, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Medical Genetics
Professor of Endocrinology