Dr. David Bradley's research focuses on the complex mechanisms responsible for the metabolic changes associated with obesity, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and non-alcoholic liver disease. His research utilizes stable isotope tracers and detailed tissue analyses to evaluate cellular and whole-body substrate metabolism in humans. He is particularly interested in developing a more complete understanding of the contribution of adipose tissue inflammation to these disorders and the mechanisms behind improvements in glucose homeostasis after significant weight loss and weight gain.

In addition, as part of NIH-funded national consortiums, he is actively trying to understand the causes and physiologic underpinnings behind diabetes related to acute and chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. Given his focus on adipose tissue immunology, he and colleagues are studying the impact of certain immune cells, most notably anti-inflammatory regulatory T cells, on the etiology and progression of cardiometabolic disease. Through numerous clinical trials, he has tested the utility of various treatments for diabetes and obesity to help improve clinical care for these devastating medical conditions.

Dr. Bradley has continually published manuscripts that add to the diabetes field, many in high-impact journals including the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Diabetes Care, Diabetes, Gastroenterology, and JCEM, among others. Of these, several involve clinical trials that explore the metabolic changes and complications that occur as a result of obesity and diabetes, conducting hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamps with glucose tracer infusion to measure insulin resistance, mixed meal tolerance, and oral glucose tolerance tests to determine pancreatic beta-cell function, and bedside adipose tissue and skeletal muscle biopsies. His current or previous funding as primary investigator has included a KL2 award (focused on the effects of aging on bariatric surgery outcomes) and grants from the ADA, the ASMBS, and the NIH to study the impact of acute and chronic pancreatitis on diabetes pathophysiology. 

In addition to research, clinical care is highly important to Dr. David Bradley, who continues to value the relationships he has made with patients, focused on the care of type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Improving their health care is a major passion for him, as this epidemic already occurs in roughly 30 percent of individuals and will continue to rise in the United States in the coming decades. Thus, in addition to his efforts in the outpatient clinics and inpatient ward services, he has served as a board member of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) local chapter and has given numerous talks to educate the community and surrounding health systems about diabetes and obesity, with the aim of improving the health of our local/regional population.

Board-certified in endocrinology and geriatric medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine, 2011 and 2013