Dr. Shireman is on a mission to decrease the number of limbs lost to diabetes. She is the principal investigator on several research studies in the department of surgery that focus on atherosclerosis-induced ischemia, the hardening of the arteries that is one of the complications of diabetes and the leading culprit in lower-limb amputations. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Texas affiliate of the American Heart Association have funded these projects for a collective total of $2.5 million over five years.

Dr. Shireman’s research works to understand the relationship among white blood cells, artery formation and skeletal muscle regeneration.

Patients with atherosclerosis develop ischemia, an insufficient supply of blood to an organ or limb resulting from a blocked artery. As a result, cells, tissues and nerves in the lower limbs die. Patients with ischemia are often able to naturally grow collateral arteries (new blood vessels) around the blocked artery to assist in transporting blood throughout the body to regenerate damaged tissues. But in diabetic patients, collateral artery growth is slower than in patients without diabetes. Through research, Dr. Shireman and her team hope to find a method to enhance collateral artery growth in patients. Their research could lead to medications that do just that and encourage the regeneration of already damaged tissue in the lower limbs, thus potentially reducing or even eliminating the need for lower-limb amputations in the future.

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