NEWS
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA. – The Harold Hamm Diabetes Center (HHDC) at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences will gain a new deputy director, Matthew Potthoff, Ph.D., effective January 1. Potthoff will also hold the title of Harold Hamm Endowed Chair in Clinical Diabetes Research and professor of biochemistry and physiology, with a secondary appointment in the division of neurology in the OU School of Medicine.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Potthoff to the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center,” said Jed Friedman, Ph.D., director of HHDC. “As a distinguished neuroscientist, his pioneering work bridges the crucial intersection of brain health and metabolic diseases. His expertise opens exciting new avenues for understanding and treating diabetes, and his leadership will significantly enhance our mission to find a cure and improve lives.”
As deputy director of the HHDC, Potthoff will be responsible for helping guide pilot grants and research events such as the Metabolic Research Conference and the Diabetes Research Symposium, as well as representing the center’s vision, direction and investment opportunities.
Potthoff returns home to Oklahoma and OU, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2003. He then earned his doctorate from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and subsequently performed a Howard Hughes Postdoctoral Fellowship. In 2012, he joined the faculty in the Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology and the F.O.E. Diabetes Research Center at the University of Iowa. His primary research interests are the role of liver-derived hormones, termed hepatokines, in regulating systemic energy and nutrient homeostasis through their actions on the brain. Based on his work, Potthoff was awarded the Distinguished Scholar Award at the University of Iowa and received the Roy J. Carver Professorship in Neuroscience and Pharmacology. In addition to his research, Potthoff served as the Molecular Medicine Graduate Program Director at the University of Iowa.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
The Hudson Fellows in Public Health Program – a select group of doctoral students at the University of Oklahoma Hudson College of Public Health – will observe its 10th anniversary on April 9 with the annual Hudson Fellows Symposium. The event will feature a noontime lecture by health innovation leader Vivian S. Lee, M.D., Ph.D., MBA.
New research from University of Oklahoma researchers, published in Cell Reports, reveals that a hormone that reverses obesity in mice appears to work by signaling to a brain region involved in metabolism and appetite regulation, the same area targeted by the popular GLP-1 drugs.
The University of Oklahoma’s Max Westheimer Airport has received the prestigious Airport of the Year Award for 2026 from the Oklahoma Airport Operators Association. Airport Director Lance Lamkin was also named the 2026 Airport Manager of the Year.
