Texas Tech University

Naïma Moustaïd-Moussa, PH.D., FTOS, FAHA, FNAI

Inaugural Executive Director, Institute for One Health Innovation // Paul W. Horn Distinguished Professor, TTU Department of Nutritional Sciences // Professor, TTUHSC Department of Cell Biology & Biochemistry // Founding Director, Obesity Research Institute
Nutritional Sciences

Email: naima.moustaid-moussa@ttu.edu

Phone: (806) 834-7946

Room: HS 407

Department of Nutritional Sciences 

Prof. Moustaid-Moussa is a native of Morocco. She received her doctorate from the University of Paris and postdoctoral training at Harvard School of Public Health. She joined the faculty at The University of Tennessee (UT) in 1993 and was promoted to the rank of full professor in 2003. She held appointments at UT Knoxville and UT Institute of Agriculture in the departments of Nutrition, Animal Science and Family & Consumer Sciences and as co-director of the UT Obesity Research Center. She was recruited to TTU in fall 2012 as a Senior Strategic Hire in Nutrition and Obesity. She founded in 2013 The Obesity Research Cluster, which was approved by the TTU System Board of Regents in 2019, as the Obesity Research Institute (ORI) reporting to the Office of Research and Innovation. In 2024, she was appointed as Inaugural Executive Director for the TTU system wide Institute for One Health Innovation.

Prof Moustaid-Moussa leads the Nutrigenomics, Inflammation and Obesity Research (NIOR) conducting basic and integrated nutrition and obesity research, with emphasis on the role of the endocrine function of adipose tissue and nutrient-gene interactions in health and disease. Current research focuses on bioactive compounds (from fish oil, sorghum, tart cherry, curcumin) that reduce obesity-associated white fat inflammation, activate brown fat, reduce systemic, and neuro-inflammation and aging-related metabolic dysfunctions. She published over 190 peer-reviewed papers from research funded by federal agencies, foundations, and industry (NIH, USDA, AHA, ADA, Qatar Foundation, Empirical Foods, Inc). She is Fellow of the American heart Association, AHA, the Obesity Society, TOS, and the National Academy of Inventors, NAI (FAHA, FTOS, FNAI). She is an appointed member of the National Academies’ Board on Agriculture & Natural Resources (BANR), since 2022, and currently serves as President-Elect for the American Society for Nutrition (ASN).

CV

Research Interests

http://www.depts.ttu.edu/hs/ns/research/nior/     My Lab (NIOR): Nutrigenomics, Inflammation and Obesity Research

https://www.depts.ttu.edu/research/obesityresearch/    Obesity Research Institute (ORI)

https://www.depts.ttu.edu/onehealth/     Institute for One Health Innovation (IOHI)

Naïma Moustaïd-Moussa

Education

Started undergraduate studies (Biology/Geology) in Morocco at the university of Mohamed V in Rabat then completed her BS in Cell Biology and Physiology at the University of Paris Sud-Orsay, France and her MS and PhD in Endocrinology (cell, molecular and metabolic aspects) at the Sorbonne (Formerly University of Paris VI, P & M Cure), Paris, France. She then moved to the US for a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular nutrition, at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, MA. Where she was funded by JDF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation)

Publications

For full citations, see my Google Scholar URL: 

https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=QxCyZY0AAAAJ&view_op=list_works

  1. Ramalingam, L., Kalupahana, N.S. Menikdiwela, K.R., Ratnayake, R.M.C.J., Moustaid-Moussa, N. Maternal Obesity and its Epigenetic Effects. The Active Female: Health Issues Throughout The Lifespan, 3rd edition; Editors: Jacalyn J. Robert-McComb & Mimi Zumwalt; 2023
  2. Shen CL, Dufour JM, Miranda JM, Kaur G, Chung E, Ramalingam L, Moustaid-Moussa N, Cao JJ. Effect of Dietary Geranylgeraniol and Green Tea Polyphenols on Glucose Homeostasis, Bone Turnover Biomarkers, and Bone Microstructure in Obese Mice; J. Mol. Sci. 24(2): 979, 2023
  3. Regmi, A., Poudyal, S., Singh, S., Coldren, C., Moustaid-Moussa, N, Simpson, C. Biochar Influences Phytochemical Concentrations of Viola cornuta Flowers; Sustainability, 15(5): 3882, 2023
  4. Islam, T., Albracht-Schulte, K., Ramalingam, L., Schlabritz-Lutsevich, N., Park, O.H., Zabet-Moghaddam, M., Kalupahana, N.S., Moustaid-Moussa, N. Anti-inflammatory mechanisms of polyphenols in adipose tissue inflammation: Role of gut microbiota, intestinal integrity and zinc homeostasis. J. Nutr. Biochem. 115, 109242, 2023
  5. Yosofvand, M., Khan, S.Y., Dhakal, R., Nejat, A., Moustaid-Moussa, N., Layeequr Rahman, R., Mouss, H. Automated Detection and Scoring of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Breast Cancer Histopathology Slides. Cancers 15 (14), 3635, 2023
  6. Zu, Y., Pahlavani, M., Ramalingam, L., Jayarathne, S., Andrade, J., Scoggin, S., Festuccia, W.T., Kalupahana, N.S., Moustaid-Moussa, N. Temperature-Dependent Effects of Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) on Browning of Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue in UCP1 Knockout Male Mice. J. Mol. Sci. 2023/5/13; Volume 24, Issue 10, pages: 8708
  7. Yavari, M., Ramalingam, L., Harris, B.N., Kahathuduwa, C.N., Chavira, A., Biltz, C., Mounce, L., Maldonado, K.A., Scoggin, S., Zu, Y., Kalupahana, N.S., Yosofvand, M., Moussa, H., Moustaid-Moussa, N. Eicosapentaenoic Acid Protects Against Metabolic Impairments in the APPswePS1dE9 Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Model. J. Nutr. 153 (4), 1038-105, 2023
  8. Nejat, S., Menikdiwela, K.R., Efotte, A., Scoggin, S., Vandanmagsar, B., Thornalley, P.J., Dehbi, M., Moustaid-Moussa, N. Genetic Deletion of DNAJB3 Using CRISPR-Cas9, Produced Discordant Phenotypes. Genes (Basel). 2023 Sep 24;14(10):1857. doi: 10.3390/genes14101857.
  9. Guimarães Torres, JP, Queiroz, L.A.D., Menikdiwela, K.R.,Pereira, N., Ramalho, T., Jancar, S., Ramalingam, L., Moustaid-Moussa, N., Martins, J.O. The role of captopril in leukotriene-deficient type 1 diabetic mice. Sci. Rep. (Nat Sp), 13: 22105, 2023
  10. Islam, T., Scoggin, S., Gong, X., Zabet-Moghaddam, M., Kalupahana, N.S., Moustaid-Moussa, N. Anti-Inflammatory Mechanisms of Curcumin and Its Metabolites in White Adipose Tissue and Cultured Adipocytes; Nutrients 16 (1), 70, 2023
  11. Harris, B.N., Yavari, M,, Ramalingam, L., Mounce, P.L., Alers Maldonado, K., Chavira, A.C., Thomas, S., Scoggin, S., Biltz, C., Moustaid-Moussa, N. Impact of long-term dietary high fat and eicosapentaenoic acid on behavior and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in amyloidogenic APPswe/PSEN1dE9 mice. Neuroendocrinol. doi: 10.1159/000536586. Online ahead of print; 2024
  12. Garrison, E.C., Brown, A.M.V., Salazar M.M., Barr, B., Moustaid-Moussa, N., Gollahon, L.S. Microbiome Taxonomic and Functional Differences in C3H/HeJ Mice Fed a Long-Term High-Fat Diet with Beef Protein ± Ammonium Hydroxide Supplementation. Nutrients, 16: 1613, 2024; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16111613
  13. Ramalingam, L., Mabry, B., Menikdiwela, K.R., Moussa, H., Moustaid-Moussa, N. Enhanced Metabolic Effects of Fish Oil When Combined with Vitamin D in Diet-Induced Obese Male Mice. Biomolecules 14 (4), 474, 2024
  14. Kalupahana, N.S., and Moustaid-Moussa, N. Beyond Blood Pressure Regulation: Role of the Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System in Metabolic Diseases and Cancer. Acta Physiologica. (Oxf). 240(7): e14164. doi: 10.1111/apha.14164; 2024
  15. Seifishahpar, M., Kim, J.H., Parkman, J.K., Rhode, A., Menikdiwela, K., Zu, Y., Scoggin, S., Freeman, L., Kalupahana, N.S., Moustaid-Moussa, N. Effects of high fat diets and supplemental tart cherry and fish oil on obesity and type 2 diabetes in male and female C57BL/6J and TALLYHO/Jng mice. Nutrients, 16(23): 4179, 2024; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16234179
  16. Pahlavani, M., Pham, K., Kalupahana, N.S., Morovati, A./, Ramalingam, L., Abidi, H., Kiridana, V., Moustaid-Moussa, N. Thermogenic adipose tissues: promising therapeutic targets for metabolic diseases. J. Nutr. Biochem. Iin press, 2024
  17. Seifishahpar, M., Kim, J.H., Parkman, J.K., Rhode, A., Menikdiwela, K., Zu, Y., Scoggin, S., Freeman, L., Kalupahana, N.S., Moustaid-Moussa, N. Effects of high fat diets and supplemental tart cherry and fish oil on obesity and type 2 diabetes in male and female C57BL/6J and TALLYHO/Jng mice. Nutrients, 16(23): 4179, 2024; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16234179
  18. Seifishahpar, M., Kalupahana, N.S., Kim, J-H., Moustaid-Moussa, N. Invited review:Interplay Between Dietary Bioactive Compounds and Gut Microbiota in Modulating Obesity-Associated Inflammation and Metabolic Dysfunctions. Accepted for publication. Ann. Rev Nutr. 2025

Nutritional Sciences

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