Tandy Aye

Tandy Aye, MD, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes, and (by Courtesy) Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences - Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Stanford University School of Medicine

Research Description:  Dr. Aye has been named as one of two top Pediatric Endocrinologists in the Bay Area 5 years in a row. The adverse effects of Type 1 diabetes (T1D) on the cardiovascular, renal, ophthalmologic and neurologic systems are well established. Far less is known about the impact of T1D on the developing brain. Dr. Aye has conducted sentinel research demonstrating the adverse effects of both hyper-and hypoglycemia and diabetic ketoacidosis on brain development in young children with T1D and her findings have led to an increased focus on brain development and have contributed to new directions for a national diabetes research consortium, DirecNet. She employs advanced modalities, voxel-based morphometry and diffusion-tensor imaging, in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in relation to fluctuating hormonal levels in the brain. These techniques allow the comparison of specific microstructures of the brains among many brain images and the neuronal connections between these microstructures. After conducting a pilot to demonstrate the similar results between functional MRI and Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) of the brain, she is currently using NIRS in children with type 1 diabetes who are transitioning to hybrid closed-loops systems.

Selected relevant publications (Stanford DRC Members in BOLD):

  1. Foland-Ross LC, Tong G, Mauras N, Cato A, Aye T, Tansey M, White NH, Weinzimer SA, Englert K, Shen H, Mazaika PK, Reiss AL; Diabetes Research in Children Network (DirecNet). Brain Function Differences in Children With Type 1 Diabetes: A Functional MRI Study of Working Memory. Diabetes. 2020 Aug;69(8):1770-1778. doi: 10.2337/db20-0123. PMID: 32471809; PMCID: PMC7372069. 

  2. Mazaika PK, Marzelli M, Tong G, Foland-Ross LC, Buckingham BA, Aye T, Reiss AL. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy detects increased activation of the brain frontal-parietal network in youth with type 1 diabetes. Pediatr Diabetes. 2020 May;21(3):515-523. doi: 10.1111/pedi.12992. PMID: 32003523. 

  3. Jacobsen LM, Bocchino L, Evans-Molina C, DiMeglio L, Goland R, Wilson DM, Atkinson MA, Aye T, Russell WE, Wentworth JM, Boulware D, Geyer S, Sosenko JM. The risk of progression to type 1 diabetes is highly variable in individuals with multiple autoantibodies following screening. Diabetologia. 2020 Mar;63(3):588-596. doi: 10.1007/s00125-019-05047-w. PMID: 31768570; PMCID: PMC7229995. 

  4. Aye, T, Mazaika P, Mauras N, Marzelli M, Shen H, Hershey T, Cato A, Weinzimer S, White N, Tsalikian E, Jo B, Reiss AL. “Impact of Early Diabetic Ketoacidosis on the Developing Brain” Diabetes Care March 2019 42(3) 443-449. PMID  30573652.

  5. Mazaika PK, Aye T, Reiss AL, Buckingham BA. Large Changes in Brain Volume Observed in an Asymptomatic Young Child With Type 1 Diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2018 Jul;41(7):1535-1537. doi: 10.2337/dc17-2503. PMID: 29934482; PMCID: PMC6014537.