Neurobiology of Nutrition Laboratory

News & Announcements

Caitlyn Mullins has successfully defended her doctoral thesis on “BT2 as a novel therapeutic compound for Alzheimer's disease”. Congratulations!!
Our Alyssa Kramer has been accepted to the Medical School at Baylor University. Congratulations!
Harsh Shah is the first author of a review article now published in Antioxidants, “Revisiting the role of vitamins and minerals in Alzheimer's disease”. Congratulations!
Dr. Andrew Shin received Apple Polishing Award from Texas Tech Mortar Board for excellence in mentoring.
Caitlyn Mullins presented her work on “A BCAA-lowering agent BT2 alleviates Alzheimer's disease-related pathology and delays cognitive decline in 5xFAD mouse model” at Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Conference, November 2022.
Caitlyn Mullins & Ritchel Gannaban, two doctoral students in the lab, have been awarded with Emerging Leaders in Nutrition Science Abstract Recognition Award which recognizes the highest quality research presented by students and young investigators at the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) conference, 2022. Congratulations!
Dr. Andrew Shin is appointed as an Associate Editor of Frontiers in Nutrition & Frontiers in Psychology.

Overview

We are interested in how the brain is able to integrate nutrient-related signals from various tissues in the body to control body weight and appetite, as well as nutrient metabolism (glucose, amino acids, lipids) in the context of obesity and diabetes. Related to this, we also study how Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), a type of bariatric surgery considered to be one of the most effective treatments for obesity/diabetes, successfully lowers body weight and improves metabolic outcomes. How RYGB surgery rewires both "homeostatic" and "hedonic/reward" systems to defend the new lower body weight is a very interesting topic. We are also interested in parsing out the relationship between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease (AD), and in identifying novel biomarkers and treatments for AD.