Fida Bacha Lab News and Publications

2025 News

2024 News

logo of the DISCOVERY diabetes study
  • Launch of the DISCOVERY study!
    This large NIH funded study aims to identify risk factors for youth-onset type 2 diabetes to improve prevention and treatment. To find out more, please visit: DISCOVERY of Risk Factors For Type 2 Diabetes In Youth | BCM
  • Select New Publications:
  • From Obesity to Strong Bones: Essential Tips for Healthy Kids
    ARS-funded research at the Children's Nutrition Research Center in Houston, Texas, delves into the critical connection between childhood obesity and bone health. The research uncovers how excess weight in Hispanic children can negatively affect bone density and mineral content, potentially increasing the risk of fractures. Researchers emphasize the importance of physical activity as a protective measure against these adverse effects and discuss practical strategies for parents to prevent obesity from the outset. Video link (USDA YouTube channel)

2023 News

  • Dr. Bacha received an NIH-NIDDK-U01 grant award for the project entitled: “Understanding and Targeting the Pathophysiology of Youth-onset Type 2 Diabetes- Texas Children’s Center”.
  • Dr. Bacha invited to serve as Diabetes Care Editorial Board Member 2023-2026 (S. Kahn, MB, ChB, Editor).
  • Dr. Bacha presents on “Advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs), oxidation products (OPs) and the soluble receptor for AGE (sRAGE) in youth with type 2 diabetes”. National TODAY Study Group Webinar Meeting. January 13, 2023.

2022 News

  • Dr. Bacha received grant funding from NICHD for her project entitled: Type 2 Diabetes and Bone Health in Youth
  • Dr. Bacha participated as an Invited Delegation Member from Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, to the Texas Medical Center-Denmark BioBridge Delegation. Copenhagen, Denmark. September 26-28, 2022 (weblink)
  • Dr. Bacha presents: Pediatric Research Programs in Prevention of Chronic Disease. Institutional presentation at the South Goes North Texas Medical Center-Denmark Biobridge Event. September 27, 2022. Copenhagen, Denmark.
  • Dr. Bacha invited to join the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism Case Reports 2022-2023 (W.F. Young, MD, Editor)
  • Dr. Bacha. Invited Speaker at the Endocrine Society Meeting ENDO 2022: Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease among Young Adults.  In Session entitled: Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Adolescent Healthcare. June 11-14, 2022. Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
  • Dr. Bacha. Invited Speaker at the American Diabetes Association's 82nd Scientific Sessions: Role and Management of Insulin Resistance and Obesity in Type 2 Diabetes. June 5, 2022. New Orleans, LA.
  • Dr. Bacha serves as an Invited Member of the American Diabetes Association Youth Strategies Committee. 2021-2022
  • Dr. Bacha serves on the editorial board of Diabetes Care (M. Riddle, MD, Editor; Impact factor 19).
  • Dr. Bacha receives the Annual Faculty Educational Award for Excellence in Teaching Baylor Residents in Pediatric Endocrinology, Baylor College of Medicine, June 2022
  • Dr Bacha received an award from NIH/NIDDK (5U01DK061230-16) for her project entitled: Advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) and oxidation products (OPs) and the soluble receptor for AGE (sRAGE): cardiovascular disease risk biomarkers in youth with type 2 diabetes.

Past Publications

  • Bacha F, El-Ayash H, Mohamad M, Puyau M, Sharma S, Kanchi R, Coarfa C. Distinct amino-acids profile distinguishes youth with or at risk for type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes 2024 Apr 1;73(4):628-636. doi: 10.2337/db23-0375.PMID: 3821517
  • Koren D, Knutson K, Burke B, Drews KL, Bacha F, Katz L, Marcus M, McKay S, Nadeau K, Mokhlesi B. on behalf of the TODAY Study Group. The association of self-reported sleep and circadian measures with glycemic control and diabetes complications among young adults with type 2 diabetes: results from the TODAY2 study. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2024 Jun 1;326(6):H1386-H1395. Epub 2024 Apr 12.PMID: 38607342
  • Bacha F. Are prediction models moving closer to clinical application in the diagnosis of the type of diabetes in youth? Invited Commentary. Diabetes Care. 2024. In Press
  • Calarge C, Chima N. Amushie C, Dinh S, Mills J, Devaraj S, Villalobos G, Nguyen J, Sisley S, Garcia J, Bacha F, Zemel B. Fluoxetine and Sertraline Inhibit Height Growth and Growth Hormone Signaling During Puberty. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2024 Oct 14.PMID: 39392873
  • Bacha F, Hannon T, Pike J, Tosur M, Butler A, Tommerdahl K, Zeitler P. Pathophysiology and treatment of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes in youth. Diabetes Care 2024. Sep 9:dci240029. doi: 10.2337/dci24-0029. Online ahead of print. PMID: 39250166.
  • Pyle L, Choi YJ, Narongkiatikhun P, Sharma K, Waikar S, Layton A, Tommerdahl K, Boer I, Timothy Vigers T, Nelson RG, Lynch J, Brosius F, Saulnier PJ, Goodrich JA, Tryggestad J, Isganaitis E, Bacha F, Nadeau KJ, van Raalte D, Kretzler M, Heerspink H, Bjornstad P. Proteomic analysis uncovers multi-protein signatures associated with early diabetic kidney disease in youth with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. 2024 PMID: 39432369.

Complete list of published work in my bibliography. 

  • Rodriguez BC, Astudillo M, Tosur M, Rafaey A, McKay S, Bacha F, Balasubramanyam A, Redondo MJ. Characteristics of Type 2 Diabetes in Female and Male Youth. Clin Diabetes. 2023;41(2):239-243. doi: 10.2337/cd22-0057. Epub 2023 Oct 3. PMID: 37092145
  • Bacha F (Chair), El ghormli L, Braffet B, Shah A, Marcovina S, Katz L, Willi S, Caprio S, Dhaliwal R, Gidding S. Candidate Biomarkers as Predictors of Future Kidney Disease and Cardiovascular Function in Adolescents with Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice 2023. doi: 10.1016/j.diabres.2023.110671. Epub 2023 Apr 15. PMID: 37068551
  • El Ayash H*, Puyau M, Bacha F. Hyperglycemia: a determinant of cardiac autonomic dysfunction in youth with obesity across the spectrum of glycemic regulation. (*Post-doctoral fellow). Pediatric Obesity 2023 Oct;18(10):e13063. doi: 10.1111/ijpo.13063. Epub 2023 Jun 13.PMID: 37312269
  • Nadeau K, El ghormli L, Arslanian S, Bacha F, Caprio S, Chan C, Chao L, Isganaitis E, Rayas M, Siska M, Zeitler P. Effect of Early Glycemic Control in Youth-Onset Type 2 Diabetes on Longer-Term Glycemic Control and β-Cell Function: Results from the TODAY Study. Diabetes Care 2023. Aug 1;46(8):1507-1514. doi: 10.2337/dc23-0560.PMID: 37378967
  • Ismail H, Barua W, Sabharwal A, Libman I, Bacha F, Nadeau K, Tosur M, Redondo M. Baseline leptin predicts response to metformin in adolescents with type 1 diabetes and increased body mass index. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2023;1‐4. doi:10.1111/dom.152184
  • Bacha F, Gupta R, Jenkins T, Brandt M, Inge T, Kleiner D, Xanthakos S. for the Teen-Labs Study. Prognostic Factors in resolution of NAFLD post Bariatric Surgery in Youth. [Initiated collaboration with the TEEN-LABS study and manuscript proposal and design]. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases (SOARD) 2024 Apr;20(4):367-375. doi: 10.1016/j.soard.2023.11.004. Epub 2023 Nov 30. PMID: 38155077DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soard.2023.11.004. Selected for CME activity for SOARD
  • Pham DT, Westerman KE, Pan C, Chen L, Srinivasan S, Isganaitis E, Vajravelu ME, BachaF, Chernausek S, Gubitosi-Klug R, Divers J, Pihoker C, Marcovina SM, Manning AK, Chen H. Re-analysis and meta-analysis of summary statistics from gene-environment interaction studies. Bioinformatics 2023. Dec 1;39(12). PMID: 38039147

  • Shah AS, El Ghormli L, Gidding SS, Hughan KS, Levitt Katz LE, Koren D, Tryggestad JB, Bacha F, Braffett BH, Arslanian S, Urbina EM. Longitudinal changes in vascular stiffness and heart rate variability among young adults with youth-onset type 2 diabetes: results from the follow-up observational treatment options for type 2 diabetes in adolescents and youth (TODAY) study. Acta Diabetol. 2022 Feb;59(2):197-205. doi: 10.1007/s00592-021-01796-6. Epub 2021 Sep 20. PubMed PMID: 34542729; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8844143.
  • Gebara NY, Kim JY, Bacha F, Lee S, Arslanian S. Metabolic Inflexibility in Obese Youth: Is it a Feature of Obesity or Distinctive of Metabolically Unhealthy Youth? Clin Obes. 2022 Apr;12(2):e12501. doi: 10.1111/cob.12501. Epub 2021 Dec 1.PMID: 3485155Dec 1:e12501. doi: 10.1111/cob.1250
  • Shah A, Gidding S, El ghormli L, Tryggestad J, Nadeau K, Bacha F, Levitt Katz L, Willi S, Lima J, Urbina EM. for the TODAY Study Group.  Relationship between Arterial Stiffness and Subsequent Cardiac Structure and Function in Young Adults with Youth-Onset Type 2 Diabetes: Results from the TODAY Study. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2022 Jun;35(6):620-628.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.echo.2022.02.001. Epub 2022 Feb 8.PMID: 35149207
  • Moreno J, Hannay K, Walch  O, Dadabhoy H, Christian J, Puyau M, El-Mubasher A, Bacha F, Grant S, Park R, Cheng P. Estimating Circadian Phase in Elementary School Children: Leveraging Advances in Physiologically-Informed Models of Circadian Entrainment and Wearable Devices. Sleep. 2022 Jun 13;45(6):zsac061. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsac061.PMID: 35275213
  • Shawar R, Puyau M, Shypailo R, Musaad S, Butte N, Bacha F. Adiposity, Insulin Resistance, Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Bone Health in Hispanic Children. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2022 Jun 6:dgac344. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgac344. Online ahead of print. PMID: 35662345
  • TODAY Study Group. Bjornstad P, Drews KL, Caprio S, Gubitosi-Klug R, Nathan DM, Tesfaldet B, Tryggestad J, White NH, Zeitler P. Long-Term Complications in Youth-Onset Type 2 Diabetes. N Engl J Med. 2021 Jul 29; 385(5):416-426. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2100165. PubMed PMID: 34320286; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8697255
  • Goetz A, Jindal I, Moreno J, Puyau M, Adolph A, Butte N, Bacha F. The relationship of sleep to energetics and obesogenic behaviors in preschool children. (*Post-doctoral fellow). Am J Clin Nutr. 2022 Jul 14:nqac197. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqac197. Online ahead of print.PMID: 35833269
  • Castillo B, Astudillo M, Tosur M, Rafaey A, McKay S, Bacha F, Balasubramanyam A, Redondo M. Characteristics of Type 2 Diabetes in Female and Male Youths. Clinical Diabetes 2022. In Press.