Sarah Bortvedt, class of 2008, has recently won a prestigious 2012 Impact Award from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she is working on her doctorate in Cell and Molecular Physiology. Her work on the causes of obesity have focused on the role of the small intestines in processing and absorbing and/or storing ingested fats. “The result of Sarah’s work demonstrate for the first time that intestinal insulin resistance and associated abnormal lipid absorption may represent new and early mechanisms that promote obesity and fatty liver,” said P. Kay Lund, Ph.D., Bortvedt’s dissertation advisor. Her work will help guide improved diagnosis, treatment, and prevention strategies for obesity and diabetes.