Jacqueline Beaudry
PhD
Qualification
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Samuel Lunenfield Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital (2013-2019)
- PhD, School of Kinesiology & Health Sciences, York University (2009-2013)
- MSc, Biology, McMaster University (2007-2009)
- BSc (Hons), Biology and Psychology, McMaster University (2003-2007)
*Accepting new undergraduate summer research students for 2026*
At a Glance
- Dr. Beaudry’s research interests are in the area of biological systems that influence the onset of obesity and diabetes. She is specifically interested in the influence of high fat diets and hormone biology on fat metabolism.
- Dr. Beaudry's research is currently funded by a National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant, and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) John R. Evans Leader Fund.
About Dr. Jacqueline Beaudry
Dr. Beaudry comes most recently from post-doctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Daniel Drucker at the Lunenfeld-Tannenbaum Research Centre at Mount Sinai Hospital where she held a Canadian Diabetes Association post-doctoral fellowship. She received her PhD in the Kinesiology and Health Science department at York University in September 2013 and her Master’s in the biology department at McMaster University in September 2009. Dr. Beaudry was the recipient of the 2014 Governor General’s Medal for her PhD thesis on the role of stress hormones and high fat diet on diabetes development.
Research Synopsis
The Beaudry lab is focused on understanding how excess dietary fat and elevated stress, pancreatic and gut-derived hormones impact white and brown fat tissue biology. Fat tissue is a very interesting organ to study as it highly sensitive to its surrounding external and internal environments. Healthy fat function is important to overall health and energy balance, and we hope to use our studies to provide insight into chronic metabolic disease development such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Recent Awards and Distinctions (Selected)
Kern Lipid Conference, David L. Williams Lecture and Scholarship Award (2024)
Connaught New Researcher Award, University of Toronto (2021)
NSERC-Discovery Grant Early Career Researcher Award, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (2021)
Canadian Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal for PhD Thesis and Dissertation, York University (2014)
Thesis and Dissertation Prize, York University (2014)
National and International Committee Memberships (Current)
Associate Editor Board Member, Endocrinology
Executive Member, Adipose Biology Seminar Series and Conference
Associate Board Member, Kern Lipid Conference.
Training and Research Excellence Committee, Banting and Best Diabetes Centre, University of Toronto (2021 - present)
Recent Publications
- Mir N, Lyons SA, Guo Z, Mirza SK, Tan W, Peckett AJ, Beaudry JL. Acute Antilipolytic Effects of Elevated Levels of Corticosterone in Differentiated Murine White Adipocytes. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2025 Aug 20;. doi: 10.1152/ajpcell.00353.2024. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 40833836.
- Kuah R, Wang MT, Yang Z, Back G, Li RJW, Bruce K, LoChoy JN, Beaudry JL, Barros DR, Zhang SY, Lam TKT. Metformin Boosts Intestinal Lipid Sensing via GIP to Suppress Feeding. Diabetes. 2025 Jul 22;. doi: 10.2337/db25-0100. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 40694520.
- Zhang Z, Ye WW, Piro AL, Wang DS, Untereiner A, Lyons SA, Bhattacharjee A, Singh I, Beaudry JL, Orser BA, Dai FF, Wheeler MB. Glycine receptor activation promotes pancreatic islet cell proliferation via the PI3K/mTORC1/p70S6K pathway. JCI Insight. 2025 Apr 22;10(8). doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.178754. eCollection 2025 Apr 22. PubMed PMID: 40260914; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12016933.
- Prapaharan B, Lea M, Beaudry JL. Weighing in on the role of brown adipose tissue for treatment of obesity. J Pharm Pharm Sci. 2024;27:13157. doi: 10.3389/jpps.2024.13157. eCollection 2024. Review. PubMed PMID: 39087083; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11290130.
- Kagdi S, Lyons SA, Beaudry JL. The interplay of glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide in adipose tissue. J Endocrinol. 2024 Jun 1;261(3). doi: 10.1530/JOE-23-0361. Print 2024 Jun 1. Review. PubMed PMID: 38579777; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11103678.
- Li RJW, Barros DR, Kuah R, Lim YM, Gao A, Beaudry JL, Zhang SY, Lam TKT. Small intestinal CaSR-dependent and CaSR-independent protein sensing regulates feeding and glucose tolerance in rats. Nat Metab. 2024 Jan;6(1):39-49. doi: 10.1038/s42255-023-00942-4. Epub 2024 Jan 2. PubMed PMID: 38167726.
- Lyons SA, Beaudry JL. Synergistic Combinations of Gut- and Pancreas-Hormone-Based Therapies: Advancements in Treatments for Metabolic Diseases. Endocrinology. 2023 Sep 23;164(11). doi: 10.1210/endocr/bqad153. Review. PubMed PMID: 37823483; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10612476.
- Yehia NA, Isai L, Semnani-Azad Z, Lai KZH, Retnakaran R, Harris SB, Beaudry JL, Bazinet RP, Hanley AJ. Association of circulating branched chain fatty acids with insulin sensitivity and beta cell function in the PROMISE cohort. Lipids. 2023 Jul;58(4):171-183. doi: 10.1002/lipd.12373. Epub 2023 May 11. PubMed PMID: 37165723.
- Yehia NA, Lai KZH, Semnani-Azad Z, Blanco Mejia S, Bazinet RP, Beaudry JL, Hanley AJ. Association of branched chain fatty acids with cardiometabolic disorders in humans: a systematic review. Nutr Rev. 2023 Jan 10;81(2):180-190. doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nuac051. PubMed PMID: 36029228.
- Vasileva A, Marx T, Beaudry JL, Stern JH. Glucagon receptor signaling at white adipose tissue does not regulate lipolysis. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2022 Oct 1;323(4):E389-E401. doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00078.2022. Epub 2022 Aug 24. PubMed PMID: 36002172; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9576180.
In the News
- 'Before insulin, diabetes was a death sentence': The miracle that two Canadians gave the world 100 years ago is still saving lives. Toronto Star. November 14, 2021.
- From detecting earthquakes to preventing disease: 27 U of T research projects receive CFI funding. U of T News. August 12, 2021.
- Insulin 100: How the road to a diabetes cure is yielding better treatments. U of T News. April 1, 2021.
Current Lab Members
Negar Mir - Research lab coordinator
Dr. Sulayman Lyons - Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr. Mihir Parikh - Postdoctoral Researcher
Samrin Kagdi - PhD student
Micah Lea - PhD student
David Guo - PhD student
Camille Piguet - PhD student
Sabrina Ziai - MSc student
Benjamin Raviv - Hons BSc. student
Benjamin Zhang - Hons BSc. student
Teaching Appointments
Course Instructor, HLTB11H3 – Basic Human Nutrition, University of Toronto Scarborough