Neurobiology of Nutrition Laboratory

News and Announcements

• Dr. Andrew Shin secured an NIA R21 grant from the NIH, "BCAAs as a novel biomarker and treatment for Alzheimer's disease".
• Our paper "Metformin effectively restores the HPA axis function in diet-induced obese rats" is accepted to International Journal of Obesity – Nature.
• Ritchel B. Gannaban joined the lab as a new Ph.D. student with a Distinguished Graduate Student Assistantship. Congratulations and welcome!
• Our paper "Personalized nutrition for management in micronutrient deficiency – literature review in non-bariatric populations and possible utility in bariatric cohort" is published in Obesity Surgery.
• Marie Mattern is selected to give an oral presentation on "Dissecting mechanisms of improved BCAA metabolism following RYGB surgery in diet-induced obese mice" at the ObesityWeek Conference in November 2020. Congratulations!

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.