Karin Bornfeldt, PhD

Email: bornf@uw.edu

Karin Bornfeldt, PhD
Email: bornf@uw.edu
Edwin L. Bierman Professor of Medicine
Director of Research, UW Medicine Diabetes Institute
Director, Complications of Diabetes Research Program, UW Medicine Diabetes Institute
Department of Medicine, Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition
Deputy Director, UW Diabetes Research Center
Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology

Home Department Website
Laboratory Medicine & Pathology Department Website
Complete list of published work.

A woman with long brown hair wearing a white sweater, a colorful scarf, and a gold necklace is smiling in a brightly lit, modern indoor setting with blue and white tones in the background.

Karin Bornfeldt received her PhD at Linköping University in Sweden in 1991. Later that year, she came to the University of Washington to do a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Russell Ross, a leader in the field of cardiovascular medicine https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1866597/ She also worked closely with Dr. Edwin Krebs on phosphorylation of signal transduction proteins in vascular cells https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1992/krebs/facts/  She was appointed to the faculty in 1995, and is now Edwin L. Bierman Professor of Medicine and Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. She serves as Director of Research of the UW Medicine Diabetes Institute (UWMDI), Director of the UWMDI Complications Program, and Deputy Director of the Diabetes Research Center. She also directs a T32 training grant in Nutrition, Obesity and Atherosclerosis.

Dr. Bornfeldt is actively involved in graduate student teaching and has served on more than 30 Doctoral Supervisory Committees in Molecular Medicine and Mechanisms of Disease, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Pharmacology, Nutritional Sciences, and Molecular Engineering.

Dr. Bornfeldt is a Fellow of the American Heart Association, an American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Fellow, and she serves as Associate Editor of Circulation Research, Associate Editor of the Journal of Lipid Research, and Consulting Editor of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.

Research Interests

People living with type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes face a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke. Much of this risk stems from atherosclerosis—the buildup of fatty plaques in blood vessels that often develops earlier in people with diabetes.

Our research focuses on triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, fat-carrying particles that can accelerate plaque formation. We study how these particles are normally cleared from the bloodstream—and why this process breaks down in diabetes. By identifying the proteins that regulate this pathway, we aim to uncover new strategies to prevent cardiovascular disease in diabetes.

How can this research help people with diabetes?

By defining the mechanisms linking diabetes to cardiovascular disease, we identify new therapeutic targets to prevent and treat its complications.