{"id":1452,"date":"2021-08-20T14:52:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-20T21:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/new-professor-rides-waves-of-discovery-to-decode-cellular-activity-underlying-diabetes\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T22:04:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T05:04:13","slug":"global-collaboration-cure-diabetes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/global-collaboration-cure-diabetes\/","title":{"rendered":"New professor rides waves of discovery to decode cellular activity underlying diabetes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n    \n                                \n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-3533-768x432.jpg\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-3533-768x432.jpg 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  alt=\"New professor rides waves of discovery to decode cellular activity underlying diabetes\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Kate White, who joins USC Dornsife\u2019s chemistry faculty this fall, takes a respite from research by surfing off Redondo Beach, Calif. (Photo: Matthew Strickland.)\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n          <nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n        <ul>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\">News<\/a><\/li>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\/?category=faculty\">Faculty<\/a><\/li>\n                  <\/ul>\n      <\/nav>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>New professor rides waves of discovery to decode cellular activity underlying diabetes<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Novice surfer and director of a USC-based global collaboration to help cure diabetes joins the USC Dornsife faculty as Gabilan Assistant Professor of Chemistry. <strong>[5\u00bd min read]<\/strong>\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n           <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span><a href=\"mailto:communication@dornsife.usc.edu\">Rhonda Hillbery<\/a><\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">August 20, 2021<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Link\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_copy_link\">\n              <svg height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" width=\"19\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m7.43475275 9.52380952-2.17490843 2.26076008c-1.08745421 1.058837-1.68841575 2.518315-1.68841575 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xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m8.14285714 9.42857143c-.17142857 0-.34285714 0-.51428571.08571428l7.28571427 6.34285719c.3428572.2571428.6857143.2571428.9428572 0l7.2857142-6.34285719c-.0857142-.08571428-.2571428-.08571428-.4285714-.08571428zm-1.28571428 1.11428567v.1714286 8.5714286c0 .6857143.6 1.2857143 1.28571428 1.2857143h14.57142856c.6857143 0 1.2857143-.6 1.2857143-1.2857143v-8.5714286c0-.0857143 0-.0857143 0-.1714286l-7.2 6.3428572c-.7714286.6857143-1.8857143.6857143-2.6571429 0z\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" transform=\"translate(-6 -9)\"\/><\/svg>\n            <\/span>\n            <span class=\"a2a_label visually-hidden\">Email<\/span>\n          <\/a>\n                  <\/span>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n \n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p>It seems fitting that Kate White took up surfing during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Surfing requires split-second adaptation to constantly changing conditions, and its learning curve is said to never truly flatten. The cell biologist, structural biologist, pharmacologist and new faculty member at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReally, the only time that I don\u2019t find myself thinking about science is when I\u2019m in the ocean,\u201d said White, who joins USC Dornsife as Gabilan Assistant Professor of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/chemistry\/\">Chemistry<\/a>\u00a0this month. \u201cIt\u2019s the only way that I actually can relax my mind.\u201d She makes a point of living close enough to the ocean to be able to hear and see it even when she\u2019s not on her board.<\/p>\n<p>White regards the uncertainty of dynamic conditions as one of the most appealing aspects of surfing \u2014 and of science. Her research pioneers new experimental and computational tools, including advanced imaging techniques, to reveal the multidimensional structure and function of pancreatic beta cells, which make insulin in the body. Researchers believe that a deeper understanding of pancreatic beta cells and the chemical environment of the cell compartments that store insulin may help cure diabetes.<\/p>\n<p>At the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/michelson.usc.edu\/\">USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience<\/a>, White leads the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/bridge-institute\/pancreatic-beta-cell-consortium\/\">Pancreatic Beta Cell Consortium<\/a>, a collaborative project that aims to curb the worldwide epidemic of diabetes.\u00a0This effort is a research cornerstone of the USC Michelson Center\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/bridge-institute\/\">Bridge Institute<\/a>,\u00a0where White was research assistant professor of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\">molecular and computational biology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Crowd sourcing toward a cure<\/h2>\n<div class=\"news-image-portrait news-image-left\">\n<figure style=\"width: 315px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/migration-uploads\/KateWhite_Profile_InStoryA-3533.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of Kate White\" width=\"315\" height=\"490\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kate White. (Photo: Courtesy of Kate White.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>As a tenure-track professor, White will design and build an independent lab and research team while continuing to direct the consortium\u2019s global team of biologists, chemists, computational biologists, engineers and mathematicians who \u201ccrowd source\u201d data and ideas.<\/p>\n<p>The group, along with artists and filmmakers, aims to construct a detailed, virtual 3D model of the pancreatic beta cell at both an atomic scale and cellular level.<\/p>\n<p>Collaborators from USC, Caltech, UCLA, the Scripps Research Institute, the University of California, San Francisco, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, among others across the globe use online tools, super computers and data sharing to study diabetes more deeply than could be achieved by individual labs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe individual pieces of information that we\u2019re all bringing to the table are useful, but trying to integrate those different data is the ultimate goal, and that\u2019s just impossible for one group to do alone,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m really excited for my lab to have this outlet to interact with other investigators at other institutions across the world,\u201d she said. \u201cIt really adds a clearly distinct collaborative nature to the group that I\u2019ll be growing at USC.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>White\u2019s fondness for T-shirts and office d\u00e9cor celebrating the gamut of science, from\u00a0<i>Star Trek<\/i>\u00a0to DNA cloning, are one of the first things people might notice upon meeting her, said\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/labs\/stevens\">Raymond Stevens,<\/a>\u00a0Provost Professor of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Neurology, Physiology and Biophysics, co-director of the Bridge Institute and co-founder of the consortium.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHer passion and excitement for all things science position Professor White to be the perfect individual to \u2018bridge\u2019 scientific disciplines like chemistry, biology, physics, and also engineering and cinema,\u201d he\u00a0noted.<\/p>\n<p>Stevens, who hired White as a postdoctoral scholar in 2015, added that those qualities are important for other reasons. \u201cThey also open the opportunity for Kate, who is a great communicator, to be able to talk about science to the broader public. USC is lucky to have such a rising star in the exciting new field of whole-cell modeling at atomic resolution.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>The scientist within<\/h2>\n<p>White says she\u2019s always loved science and snagged every opportunity to explore the natural world while growing up on a small Illinois farm. One of her childhood friends recently shared an old photo with her from a first-grade book project in which the students declared what they hoped to become when they grew up. Even then, White\u2019s choice was unequivocal \u2014 scientist.<\/p>\n<p>Her geologist father and schoolteacher mother fostered her curiosity for nature and getting her hands dirty.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy parents always allowed me to collect creatures I would find outside,\u201d White recalled. \u201cI would get tadpoles from a ditch and watch them grow into frogs, and then we would release them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her folks even allowed her to build and launch rockets in their backyard. As she got older, White learned how to drive tractors and large equipment on her grandparents\u2019 nearby farm.<\/p>\n<p>When White was in high school, her grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer\u2019s disease. White immediate dived into reading about the incurable disease to better understand it.<\/p>\n<p>What started as a desire to help her grandmother led to larger questions. \u201cWe don\u2019t know very much about human biology; this is strange,\u201d White recalls thinking. \u201cIt became kind of this obsession to try and learn about how human beings work, how our biology works.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her inquiry also clarified the path of her college studies.<\/p>\n<div class=\"news-image-landscape news-image-right\">\n<figure style=\"width: 408px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/migration-uploads\/KateWhite_Profile_InStoryB-3533.jpg\" alt=\"An image of cells.\" width=\"408\" height=\"263\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A microphotograph of pancreatic islet cells, including insulin-producing beta cells shown in green. (Image Source: WikiCommons.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>While attending the University of Illinois as an integrative biology major, a search for undergraduate research experience led her to the University of North Carolina, and an intensive summer immersion in a research lab. There, she studied\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/labs\/stevens\/g-protein-coupled-receptors\/\">G protein-coupled receptors<\/a>\u00a0(GPCRs), which are important cellular gatekeepers. These receptor proteins are analogous to messengers that notify cells about incoming environmental changes such as the presence of light, hormones and nutrients. The receptors also can be beneficial as targets for developing new drugs to treat a variety of diseases.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe trajectory of my career really changed right there,\u201d White said. \u201cI found a home in science because somebody hired me and let me work with them for the summer.\u201d She later returned to the Chapel Hill campus to earn her Ph.D. in pharmacology, investigating how sensitive receptor GPCRs are activated in response to environmental inputs.<\/p>\n<h2>Opening doors to build diversity<\/h2>\n<p>White feels gratitude for that serendipitous experience. Now it\u2019s her turn to open the door. \u201cI want to give somebody else that opportunity to find their passion and discover what they want to do in science.<\/p>\n<p>She found one important channel for doing just that. \u201cOne of the reasons I am excited about joining the chemistry department at USC Dornsife is because I\u2019m part of the Women in Science and Engineering program at USC and want to get even more involved,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wise.usc.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WiSE<\/a>\u00a0is dedicated to boosting the representation of women in science and engineering at USC. White plans to recruit undergraduate and high school students for research opportunities and showcase scientists from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities in the classroom.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs they think about the fields they might belong in one day, students will be able to identify with scientists who have made major strides in those fields,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n  \n        \n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-related-stories \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-related-stories\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n    \n                  <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/usc-dornsife-alumni-mentorship-program-expands-students-horizons\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >When alumni mentors give back, they gain, too<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/matthew-pratt-aaas-fellow\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >USC Dornsife chemistry professor named fellow of leading global scientific organization<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/gerald-segal-chemistry-professor-and-former-dean-of-usc-dornsife\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >In Memoriam: Gerald Segal, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and former USC Dornsife dean<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n            <\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Novice surfer and director of a USC-based global collaboration to help cure diabetes joins the USC Dornsife faculty as Gabilan Assistant Professor of Chemistry. <strong>[5\u00bd min read]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":1455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[399,78,395,202],"class_list":["post-1452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty","tag-bridge-institute","tag-chemistry","tag-kate-white","tag-michelson-center-for-convergent-bioscience"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>New professor rides waves of discovery to decode cellular activity underlying diabetes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Katie White, director of a USC-based global collaboration to help cure diabetes, joins the USC Dornsife faculty 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