Research by Felicia Steger, Ph.D., R.D.

Dr. Steger was a program coordinator at the Center for Physical Activity and Weight Management at KUMC prior to and during her Ph.D. training, where she developed and administered multicomponent weight management programming, coordinated clinical trials for lifestyle interventions, and provided nutrition counseling and health education. Motivated by the potential of intermittent fasting (IF) regimens to fill a gap in clinical programming, she conducted her dissertation study to compare intermittent and continuous energy restriction for weight loss, weight maintenance, diet quality, and program adherence. Dr. Steger then pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham to study time-restricted eating (or daily intermittent fasting) for improving body weight, glycemic control, and cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Steger currently has the ADA Junior Faculty Development Award to study both types of intermittent fasting (intermittent energy restriction and time-restricted eating) for diabetes treatment. As a KC-MORE Research Project Leader, she will leverage and build upon this project to additionally assess the metabolic effects of these two intermittent fasting approaches. In addition to data already being collected on weight change, glycemic control via HbA1c and continuous glucose monitoring, a 3-hour, 9-point mixed meal tolerance test (MMTT) will be conducted to assess glucose, insulin, c-peptide, incretins, appetite, and inflammatory markers. These additional metabolic assessments will allow for estimates of insulin sensitivity and pancreatic beta cell function. Additionally, assessments of appetite, incretins, and inflammatory markers will be used for metabolic phenotyping. The long-term goal of this research is to determine whether intermittent fasting approaches are an effective alternative to standard of care for diabetes treatment and to determine which patients are most likely to benefit from either intermittent fasting regimen.

Felicia Steger, Ph.D., R.D.
KC-MORE COBRE Research Project Leader
Assistant Professor, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Clinical Pharmacology
fsteger@kumc.edu