Skip to main content
Sign In

Resources For: Prospective Students | Current Students | Parents | Faculty & Staff | Alumni & Friends | Patients

 

Leigh Perreault, M.D.

Associate Professor of Medicine
  

Dr. Leigh Perreault is a physician and clinical researcher at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, CO. Her overarching research interest lies in understanding the different pathways by which people develop type 2 diabetes, and developing tailored strategies for diabetes prevention. Research projects to date have yielded valuable information about sex differences in diabetes risk, which lie, in part, in the key metabolic features in people with different types of pre-diabetes (impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and IFG/IGT).  Recently, research pursuits have focused on unraveling the pathophysiology underlying isolated IFG – a prominent type of pre-diabetes – affecting roughly 25 million Americans.  Specific environmental pollutants are strongly implicated as causal in IFG, hence proposed projects are aimed at removing these in a research setting to see if normal glucose regulation can be restored. Complimenting her independent research interests, Dr. Perreault works closely with collaborators examining emerging risk factors for diabetes such as sleep restriction, intramuscular lipids and the human microbiome.  Dr. Perreault is part of the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) and heavily utilizes the Clinical Translational Research Center (CTRC) on campus.

Dr. Perreault graduated from the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine in 1996. She completed a residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, and is currently board-certified in both. Dr. Perreault has received an Endocrine Fellow's Foundation Award, Patient-oriented Career Development Award (K23) from the National Institutes of Health, as well as a Career Development Award from the American Diabetes Association, for her work unraveling the metabolic complexities of pre-diabetes. She works tirelessly on behalf of people at risk for diabetes, both as a volunteer for the American Diabetes Association, a national and internal educator, and directly through clinical care of people with pre-diabetes and diabetes.​

​
​​
  • Diabetes Prevention 
     
  • Delineating the subtypes of human pre-diabetes
     
  • Novel risk factors for diabetes, including the human microbiome, environmental pollutants, sleep restriction and intramuscular lipids
     
​

Selected Publications

  1. Insulin resistance, not plasma glucose, drives cardiovascular disease risk in humans.
    Faerch, K, Bergman BC, Perreault, L.
    PLoS One, in press 2012. 
     
  2. Novel and reversible mechanisms of smoking-induced insulin resistance in humans.
    Bergman BC, Perreault L, Hunerdosse, Kerege A, Playdon M, Samek AM, Eckel RH.
    Diabetes, in press 2012.
     
  3. Regression from pre-diabetes to normal glucose regulation is associated with long-term reduction In diabetes risk: Results from the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study.
    Perreault L, Pan Q, Mather KJ, Watson KE, Hamman RF, Kahn SE.
    The Lancet, in press 2012.
     
  4. Features of Hepatic and Skeletal Muscle Insulin Resistance Unique to Type 1 Diabetes.
    Bergman BC, Howard D, Schauer IE, Maahs DM, Snell-Bergeon JK, Eckel RH, Perreault L, Rewers M.
    J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2012 Feb 22. [Epub ahead of print]
     
  5. Membrane localization of unique diacylglycerol species predicts insulin resistance in humans.
    Bergman BC, Hunerdosse DM, Kerege A, Playdon MC, Perreault L.
    Diabetologia, 2012 Apr; 55(4):1140-50; EPub 2012 Jan 15.
     
  6. Parental longevity and diabetes risk in the Diabetes Prevention Program.
    Florez H, Ma Y, Crandall JP, Perreault L, Marcovina SM, Bray GA, Saudek CD, Barrett-Connor E, Knowler WC; Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group.
    J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2011 Nov;66(11):1211-7. Epub 2011 Aug 17.
     
  7. Menopause and risk of diabetes in the Diabetes Prevention Program.
    Kim C, Edelstein SL, Crandall JP, Dabelea D, Kitabchi AE, Hamman RF, Montez MG, Perreault L, Foulkes MA, Barrett-Connor E; Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group.
    Menopause. 2011 Aug;18(8):857-68.
     
  8. Updated genetic score based on 34 confirmed type 2 diabetes Loci is associated with diabetes incidence and regression to normoglycemia in the diabetes prevention program.
    Hivert MF, Jablonski KA, Perreault L, Saxena R, McAteer JB, Franks PW, Hamman RF, Kahn SE, Haffner S; DIAGRAM Consortium, Meigs JB, Altshuler D, WC, Florez JC; Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group.
    Diabetes. 2011 Apr;60(4):1340-8. Epub 2011 Mar 4.
     
  9. Fenofibrate administration does not affect muscle triglyceride concentration or insulin sensitivity in humans.
    Perreault L, Bergman BC, Hunerdosse DM, Howard DJ, Eckel RH.
    Metabolism. 2011 Aug;60(8):1107-14. Epub 2011 Feb 8.
     
  10. Energy expenditure during sleep, sleep deprivation and sleep following sleep deprivation in adult humans.
    Jung CM, Melanson EL, Frydendall EJ, Perreault L, Eckel RH, Wright KP.
    J Physiol. 2011 Jan 1;589(Pt 1):235-44. Epub 2010 Nov.
     
  11. Incretin action maintains insulin secretion, but not hepatic insulin action, in people with impaired fasting glucose.
    Perreault L, Man CD, Hunerdosse DM, Cobelli C, Bergman BC.
    Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2010 Oct;90(1):87-94. Epub 2010 Aug 13.
     
  12. Altered intramuscular lipid metabolism relates to diminished insulin action in men, but not women, in progression to diabetes.
    Perreault L, Bergman BC, Hunerdosse DM, Eckel RH
    Obesity (Silver Spring. 2010 Nov;18(11):2093-100. Epub 2010 Apr 8.
     
  13. Increased intramuscular lipid synthesis and low saturation relate to insulin sensitivity in endurance-trained athletes.
    Bergman BC, Perreault L, Koehler MC, Samek AM, Eckel RH.
    J Appl Physiol 2010 May;108(5):1134-41.
     
  14. Inflexibility in intramuscular triglyceride fractional synthesis distinguishes pre-diabetes from obesity in humans.
    Perreault L, Bergman BC, Hunerdosse DM, Playdon MC, Eckel RH.
    Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Aug;18(8):1524-31.
     
  15. Regression from pre-diabetes to normal glucose regulation in the diabetes prevention program.
    Perreault L, Kahn SE, Christophi, CA, Knowler WC, Hamman RF; Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group.
    Diabetes Care, 2009 Sep;32(9): 1583-8.
     
​​
  • Diabetes
  • Pre-diabetes
  • Metabolic Syndrome
  • Obesity
  • Women's Health​

Medical School
M.D.,University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine (USC) (1996)

Undergraduate School
B.A. & B.S., Native American studies and Integrative Biology conferred (1991)

Internship and residency
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC) (1999)

Fellowship
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC) (2001)


​Picture

 ​

​Name

​Title

​ ​ Samantha Bacon ​Professional Research Assistant
​ ​ ​Anna Kerege ​Professional Research Assistant