Dr. Jetton's early work focused on the physiological integration of tissues that govern glucose homeostasis and adaptive pancreatic islet b-cell growth and function.  At UVM, he identified essential mechanisms of how b-cell mass is altered in response to a range of physiological and pathophysiological factors. More recently, he studies neural and dietary regulation of b-cell mass and, in particular, how specific dietary components and the brain impact steady state mass. 

• resolving the nature of vagus nerve control over b-cell growth and survival signals
• testing human-safe "a7R" modulators for stimulating ß-cell anti-inflammatory/ growth and survival signaling in an in vitro system
• testing the effects of specific probiotic yogurts and dairy-derived fatty acids on metabolic health
• examining the nature of how environmental exposures to fine particulate matter from various combustion sources lead to increased risk for metabolic diseases

Our work has bearing on the potential strategies to maintain functional b-cell mass and/or improve metabolic health to reduce diabetes risk. This has been learned from studies (1) identifying and characterizing a drug targetable b-cell receptor (a7nAChR) that improves b-cell function and survival, and (2) testing the effects of specific dairy-derived nutrients on metabolic health (with Dr. J. Kraft). In a collaborative project with the USDA, we are examining how environmental exposures lead to increased risk for metabolic diseases and how this might be mitigated through dietary or pharmacologic manipulation.

• multiple-labeling immunofluorescence, confocal microscopy, and electron microscopy
• morphometry and subcellular image analyses
• immunochemistry (multiplex immunoblot/ELISA) and quantitative PCR
• tissue and micro-organ culture
• organ and nerve resection-regeneration, metabolic studies, and whole-body measurements of glucose homeostasis