Neurobiology of Nutrition Laboratory

News & Announcements

• Dr. Andrew C. Shin is appointed to serve as an Associate Editor for Journal of Alzheimer's Disease in 2026.
• Fereshteh Dehghani's abstract "Branched-chain amino acids modulate sweet reward independently of neuronal FGF21 signaling" to the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB) in 2026 has been selected as an oral presentation. Congratulations!!
• Dr. Andrew C. Shin presented a talk at the Texas Tech Graduate Nutrition Organization (GNO) workshop on "The great nutrition debate: Mechanistic science vs. Clinical science" in 2026.
• Dr. Andrew C. Shin has been appointed on Medical Advisory Board, Diabetes Action Research and Education Foundation in 2026.
• Dr. Andrew C. Shin has been appointed as the Chair for The Obesity Society (TOS) Neuroscience Section in 2026.
• Zobayda Farzana Haque has successfully defended her doctoral thesis in 2026 on "Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) can be a potential predictive and/or diagnostic biomarker for Alzheimer's Disease". Congratulations!!
• Fereshteh Dehghani was awarded a 2nd place in the poster competition at the 11th annual meeting of the Center of Excellence in Obesity and Cardiometabolic Research, TTU, in 2026. Congratulations!!
• Marjan Ramezan gave a short talk at the Texas Tech Human Molecular Aging Center (HMAC) Symposium on "Sex differences in hypothalamic glucose metabolism in Alzheimer’s Disease" in 2026.
• Dr. Andrew C. Shin was a Keynote Speaker at the Texas Tech Human Molecular Aging Center (HMAC) Symposium on "Correcting Alzheimer’s trajectory through metabolic intervention" in 2026.
• Fereshteh Dehghani's abstract "A BCAA-Synthesizing Bacterium Exacerbates Food-Reward Responses Under a High-Fat Diet" to Keystone Symposia in 2026 has been selected as an oral presentation. Congratulations!!
• Dr. Andrew C. Shin was an invited speaker at the Addictive Disorders & Recovery Studies, TTU, on "The graduate student grant writing" in 2026.
• Skyler Barton, an Honors College student, presented her poster on "Link between branched-chain amino acids and sweet reward: Gene analysis in the brain" at the Texas Tech Undergraduate Research Conference in 2026.
• Garrett Scott, an Honors College student, presented her poster on " Can dietary BCAA manipulation alter reward-related genes in the amygdala? at the Texas Tech Undergraduate Research Conference in 2026.
• Caitlyn Mullins is the first author of an original research article in Journal of Alzheimer's Disease in 2025, “Early branched-chain amino acid reduction delays the onset of cognitive decline in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease". Congratulations!
• Dr. Andrew Shin gave an invited seminar at the Biology Seminar Series in 2025 on "Amino acids gone rogue – AgRP neurons linking BCAAs to insulin resistance".
• Fereshteh Dehghani's abstract "Chronic BCAA exposure shapes sucrose preference and reward behavior" to Obesityweek Conference 2025 has been selected as an oral presentation. Congratulations!
• Fereshteh Dehghani's abstract "Can BCAA-lowering compound reduce sucrose intake?" to Society for Neuroscience 2025 has been selected as an oral presentation. Congratulations!
• Dr. Andrew Shin received a Tenure and was promoted to an Associate Professor in 2025 at Texas Tech.
• Dr. Andrew Shin was selected in 2025 as the Chair-Elect for the Neuroscience Section in The Obesity Society (TOS).
• Dr. Andrew Shin secured AIREA grant from American Heart Association (AHA) in 2025 to study "The role of BCAAs in the brain reward system and food appetite".
• Fereshteh Dehghani published a review article in 2025, "Dietary flavonoid actions on aging, senescence, and applications for health". Congratulations!
• Dr. Andrew Shin published an original research article in 2025, "Relationships between diabetes, vitamin D status, depression, and Hispanic ethnicity: A project FRONTIER study".
• Marjan Ramezan received a Graduate Research Grant from The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship from the TTU Graduate School in 2025. Congratulations!
• Marjan Ramezan is the first author of a review article published in Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry in 2025, "Milk-derived bioactive peptides in insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes". Congratulations!
• Dr. Andrew Shin gave an invited seminar in 2025 at the Department of Kinesiology and Sports Management on "Deep dive into BCAAs, blood glucose, and insulin sensitivity".
• Dr. Andrew Shin published an original research article in 2025, "Low-dose dietary vorinostat increases brain histone acetylation levels and reduces oxidative stress in an AD mouse model".
• Fereshteh Dehghani Received the Graduate Research Support Award from the TTU Graduate School in 2024. Congratulations!
• Zobayda Farzana Haque is the recipient of the Trainee Professional Development Award (TPDA) from the Society for Neuroscience in 2024. Congratulations!

Past News & Announcements

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.