Meghana Gadgil, MD, MPH
Associate Clinical Professor
General Internal Medicine UCSF Health
My long-term goal is to prevent cardiometabolic disease in high-risk populations through a three-level approach: 1) clinical investigation of metabolomic processes at the individual level 2) improvements in chronic disease prevention inside the primary care office and 3) lifestyle changes with a focus on practical dietary interventions in the lived environment.
At the individual level:
My clinical research activities center on the metabolic processes connecting dietary intake and incident diabetes which are not yet well-characterized. I believe that further work with "omics" technologies can help to delineate the paths between diet and diabetes and identify targets for intervention.
Inside the PCP's office:
I am developing a program to improve postpartum transitions to primary care for women with gestational diabetes. In this program, we are identifying women with a pregnancy affected by GDM who are at high risk of transition to type 2 diabetes. We are then designing programs within our medical record system to track, improve postpartum follow-up and enroll patients into primary care.
In the lived environment:
A current research award from the Mount Zion Health Fund is supporting work improving the knowledge and uptake of prediabetes resources in the community.
I have completed a pilot intervention study enrolling participants with prediabetes to evaluate the impact evaluation walnut intake on dietary quality, measures of prediabetes and metabolite expression.
I am committed to work in the prevention of diabetes as it disproportionally impacts racial and ethnic minority populations. I also focus on research into the specific risk factors that women face in the development of diabetes, particularly those in the postpartum period. I feel strongly that each population should have appropriate and equitable guidance for a personalized care plan for the prevention of diabetes.
My future goals are to extend and individualize current knowledge about beneficial dietary and lifestyle interventions to prevent cardiometabolic disease, and to use digital tools and metabolomics to monitor responsiveness to these programs.