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Professor, Nutrition Program, School of Biological and Population Health Sciences
College of Public Health and Human Services, Oregon State University
My colleagues and I, in the Molecular Nutrition and Diabetes Research lab, investigate the molecular and metabolic basis of complications associated with obesity and diabetes. Our current focus is on the role diet plays in the onset and progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a global health problem.
The central theme of our research is that dietary fat plays a central role in controlling transcriptional regulatory networks regulating carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism. Consumption of high fat diets or diets with insufficient polyunsaturated fats (omega-3 and omega-6 fats) contribute to the complications associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes and NAFLD. Such changes in dietary fat content disrupts regulatory networks controlling cell function, leading to diabetic complications, such as hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular and fatty liver disease.
Our approach uses a preclinical mouse model to understand how diet affects cellular regulatory lipids controlling disease onset and progression. Our goal is to develop a nutritional strategy to attenuate disease progression and promote disease remission.
Our research is funded by the National Institutes of Health (RO1DK112360). For a list of our publications, go to the US National Library of Medicine (PUBMED): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Jump+db
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