FIRST PERSON: Endocrinologist Timothy Gilbert, M.D.

Endocrinologist Timothy Gilbert, M.D. 

Medical Director, Pennington Biomedical Research Center Endocrinology and Diabetes Clinic, and Clinical Research Physician 

Dr. Tim Gilbert is an endocrinologist and native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, where he worked in private practice for nearly 20 years, with a primary focus on treating patients with diabetes. In late 2024, he moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to accept the leadership role for the new Endocrinology and Diabetes Clinic at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. The center is an LSU Health affiliate and one of the nation’s largest research institutions. As medical director, Dr. Gilbert has the unique opportunity to combine his two professional passions: diabetes/metabolic research and patient care. In addition to providing specialized care to patients with diabetes and other endocrine disorders, he also serves as a clinical research physician, contributing to pharmaceutical and investigator-initiated studies that advance diabetes and metabolic health treatments. Thrive spoke with Dr. Gilbert about his career path and his goals for his new position at Pennington.

What led to your interest in medicine as a career, and endocrinology specifically? 

Growing up, I always had an interest in healthcare but never really pictured myself as a physician.  I attended McNeese State University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in nursing.  I had the opportunity to work in the critical care setting alongside many excellent physicians from the community, which is what really began to make me think much more seriously about going to medical school. I worked nights for most of my nursing career, which in the ICU setting often puts you in a more autonomous position.  In this work environment, along with the encouragement of several local physicians, I made the decision to go back to McNeese and fulfill the prerequisites for medical school.

I continued to work nights, taking classes in the mornings, and after two years, applied to medical school.  I attended LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans, followed by a three-year internal medicine residency at LSU Health Science Center in Baton Rouge, then a two-year Endocrinology and Metabolic Disease fellowship at Ochsner Health Systems in New Orleans, before returning to Lake Charles.

Given my background in critical care, I originally considered cardiology or pulmonary/critical care. The field of endocrinology seems to be an area either grasped easily, or it comes with great challenges and difficulty.  Fortunately, when going back to college subjects, such as biochemistry and other similar classes, it all clicked for me.  Like biochemistry, endocrine is often a pathway where one thing leads to the next and the next and then ultimately back to the point of origin, like a feedback loop. I found this incredibly intriguing and ultimately chose that as my specialty.

What are the most challenging and most rewarding aspects treating people with diabetes?

Some of the most challenging aspects come from seeing patients who have had very poor control of their glucose with associated complications, but who are unmotivated to make changes to improve their health. We know uncontrolled diabetes is often a “silent disease”, as it often does not cause patients many problems until complications have become advanced.  With advanced disease we see a significant increase in the risk of blindness, amputations, heart attacks, strokes, cardiovascular death and a significant decrease in life expectancy, and equally as important, a significant decline in quality of life as the disease progresses. 

Conversely, it’s very rewarding to help patients who have had great difficulty controlling their glucose and are to the point of “giving up” due to their failures and frustration. Meeting patients at their level with an understanding of the challenges and frustrations they are facing, and instilling hope and motivation, along with aggressively utilizing some of the amazing advancements we have had in the treatment of diabetes, can yield drastic improvements. It is incredibly rewarding when patients return for follow-up who have had significant improvement in glucose control and overall health which also drives their motivation and lifestyle modifications. We see patients’ outlook completely change.  One of my favorite quotes is “I want patients to live with diabetes and not for diabetes.”

How did you become involved in treatment research? 

During my years of private practice in Lake Charles, we kept up with evolving research in the endocrine field.  I had the opportunity to consult for numerous pharmaceutical and diabetes device companies throughout my career, maintaining awareness of studies that were ongoing and previewing potential new therapies or innovations. I was able to serve on many advisory panels and  review and interpret results from some of the early continuous glucose monitoring studies and offer clinical opinions, including author an article published in the Journal of Diabetes and Therapeutics.  

How did your leadership role at Pennington develop?

 I was not looking for a new position and never had an intent to leave patient care. I received a call from the CEO of Pennington in 2024 to gauge my interest in coming on board in order to add a more clinical aspect to Pennington, which had previously focused solely on research. Pennington has been known as a world-renowned research center specializing in the metabolic disease space for the last 35 years. It was the perfect opportunity to continue to provide patient care and merge it with research while working with some of the top scientists and most renowned researchers in the world. I must say the transition has come with a lot of learning about research and the workflow in such a large institution, but the move has been very rewarding.

What are your top priorities in this new chapter? 

My top priority is to continue to expand the clinical/patient care presence here at Pennington, merging it with opportunities for myself and patients to participate in cutting edge research studies, many of which are only available at a few centers around the world.

What excites you about this role?

There are so many exciting elements to my position at Pennington. I was able to put together a team of providers to work alongside me in the clinic who bring many decades of experience and a great amount of expertise in the diabetes and metabolic space.  I enjoy working with this top tier team daily.  I have also taken on the role of being a clinical advisor for many studies. In addition, I am involved in several strategic planning initiatives.

How do you balance the demands of running a clinical practice and your research (not to mention a personal life)? 

The transition has been amazing! The talent and skill of the team I work with in clinic is incredible, making the workflow largely seamless. There has been a learning curve as it relates to large scale private and government research projects. Fortunately, I have access to incredible mentors who have helped me tremendously along the way.  One of the great things about Pennington is the emphasis on work-life balance. Despite such a stark change in my professional career, my personal life could not be better.

How do you hope your work at Pennington will impact the lives of people in Louisiana and beyond?

By offering cutting edge endocrine and diabetes care inside of a world-renowned research institution, we hope to create a model in which patients benefit from knowledge and care sometimes not yet available to the general public. Additionally, if patients qualify, they may be able to participate in research studies designed to advance health and science.

Final thoughts?

Leaving family, friends and patients in Lake Charles was not easy. I can’t say thank you enough to all who have helped guide me and shape my career to lead me to this point in my life. I must give a special thank you to my mom and late father who were always there to lend encouragement, words of wisdom and be the shoulder to lean on.

I still see many of my Southwest Louisiana patients here at Pennington, and welcome them all. 

For questions or appointments with Dr. Gilbert, call 225-763-0250.