Our laboratory applies high-throughput unbiased system biology approaches, i.e. metabolomics and proteomics to understand the pathogenesis of obesity-associated metabolic diseases, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and diabetes, and their cardiovascular complications. Our group helped to develop the heavy water-based metabolic labeling approach for global proteome dynamics studies, which are currently extensively used by multiple research labs around the world. NAFLD and type 2 diabetes (T2D) afflict one-third of the US’s population.
We investigate the mechanisms underlying neurological disability in central nervous system diseases like multiple sclerosis. The laboratory employs modern techniques to address hypothesis driven studies using human samples, animal models and in vitro methods.
My laboratory’s research focuses on comparative neurobiology with an emphasis on aging, neuroinflammation, and neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases). Using an evolutionary perspective, we investigate neurological variances across species, particularly nonhuman primates, as possible mechanisms of humans’ unique vulnerability to aging and neurodegeneration and human-specific cognitive specializations.
