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Center for Metabolism and Susan Aja - visit the Aja lab Fred Brancati
Francis Kuhajda Human cancers and pre-cancerous lesions express high levels of fatty acid synthesis, and inhibiting the key anabolic enzyme fatty acid synthase (FAS) leads to apoptosis of human cancer cells. Dr. Kuhadja's laboratory is exploring the basic mechanisms linking cancer cell apoptosis with inhibition of fatty acid synthesis to help develop new inhibitors of FAS for future clinical use. As altering fatty acid metabolism in mammals can also lead to profound weight loss, he is unraveling the pathways linking FAS inhibition to both central appetite mechanisms and peripheral energy metabolism using animal models of obesity such as genetically obese mice. These studies may lead to promising breakthroughs for future obesity and diabetes treatment.
Dr. Lee's primary interest is to understand the role of signaling molecules in regulating embryonic development and adult tissue homeostasis. His laboratory has focused on the superfamily of secreted proteins that are structurally related to transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) which regulate the development and function of many different tissues. Using molecular genetic approaches, they have identified a large number of novel mammalian TGF-ß family members that they have designated growth/differentiation factors (GDFs). They have been using a variety of experimental approaches, including genetic manipulation of mice, to attempt to understand the precise biological functions of these molecules. They are particularly interested in understanding the roles of these molecules in regulating tissue growth. Timothy Moran - visit the Moran lab
Dr. Pedersen's laboratory is interested in cell energetics and the relationship of cell energy to molecular medicine and disease. He studies both mitochondrial and glycolytic processes at the tissue, cell, and molecular level, as well as the relationship of these processes to cancer and heart disease, the two leading causes of death in the U.S., with the ultimate goal of developing new therapies. Dr. Raben is interested in the chemistry and biochemistry of lipids and lipid enzymes involved in signaling cascades. His laboratory's major effort is studying the molecular aspects involved in regulating lipid metabolizing signaling enzymes and the physiological roles of this regulation. The control of these enzymes involves the modulation of two key parameters, their sub-cellular distribution and intrinsic enzymatic activity. The importance of this work is underscored by the fact that defects in lipid cascades often contribute to conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders, immune dysfunctions, and cancer.
Dr. Young, MD, MHS, focuses on the genetic epidemiology and physiology of cardiovascular disease and its associated risk factors, especially hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. His current activities include an observational study of hypertension among African Americans, a genetic epidemiology study of worldwide cardiovascular disease susceptibility patterns, and involvement in several population-based observational studies of cardiovascular and renal disease. Jin Zhang - visit the Zhang lab Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences
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Dr. Brancati, MD, is professor of medicine and chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine. He is interested in epidemiology and health disparities as well as primary and secondary 
Todd T. Brown, MD, PhD is a clinical investigator who focuses on body composition, metabolic, and skeletal abnormalities in HIV-infected patients and their interaction. Through several ongoing epidemiologic studies, he has been interested in clarifying epidemiology and risk factors for insulin resistance, diabetes mellitus, and anthropometric changes in HIV-infected patients and their relationship to antiretroviral therapy. In addition, he is also actively involved in multiple studies evaluating novel treatments for the metabolic and skeletal abnormalities in HIV-infected patients, including the use of complementary and alternative medicines. He is also interested in novel treatments of obesity in non-HIV infected populations and their effect on regional body composition and metabolism
Dr. Cheskin is the director of the Johns Hopkins 
Dr. Davidson, MD, is director of the Breast Cancer research Program. Her research uses preclinical models of cancer to improve our understanding of the biology and therapy of breast cancer to establish findings that can be brought to human testing. About 30 percent of human breast cancers lack expression of the estrogen receptor alpha (ER) protein, rendering them resistant to endocrine therapies. Silencing of ER expression can be associated with epigenetic changes such as DNA methylation and histone modulation and the mechanisms underlying these processes and the potential to reverse them is under study. She is also investigating the possibility that aberrations in the polyamine metabolic pathway in breast cancer can be exploited for treatment or prevention, as polyamine analogs have been shown to inhibit proliferation and promote cell death in preclinical breast cancer models. 
Dr. Dobs is professor of medicine and oncology and is presently an active investigator in the field of male gonadal function. She is particularly interested in new forms of male hormone replacement therapy and has published extensively in the area of hormonal changes with aging. She is director of the clinical trials unit, overseeing a team of individuals dedicated to facilitating clinical research within an academic medical center environment.
Dr. Espenshade is an assistant professor of cell biology and his lab focuses on studying the mechanisms of molecular sensing. One type of sensing is the regulation of cellular cholesterol homeostasis. The membrane-bound transcription factor sterol regulatory element binding protein, SREBP, upregulates enzymes required for cholesterol biosynthesis in response to cellular cholesterol depletion. Using mammalian tissue culture and fission yeast models, they are investigating how cells measure the cholesterol concentration in membranes. Another type of molecular sensing is the cellular response to hypoxia. To understand how cells sense oxygen, the Espenshade lab is investigating the adaptive programs initiated by eukaryotes in response to hypoxia. Recently, they discovered that fission yeast monitor oxygen-dependent sterol synthesis as a measure of environmental oxygen supply.
Dr. Guggino’s research interests include ion channels, gene therapy, polycystic kidney disease, epithelial cell biology, protein trafficking and localization, and cystic fibrosis. Presently, he investigating the structure and function of chloride (Cl)- and water channels; trafficking and molecular organization of transport proteins in epithelial cell membranes; and genetic therapies for the correction of defective ion transport in CF cells and patients. Research is also being conducted on the identification of the specific defect in Cl- channel regulation in patients with Cystic Fibrosis, the most common autosomal recessive disease in North America.
Dr. Hart is director of biological chemistry. His lab studies the crosstalk between dynamic GlcNAcylation and phosphorylation of nucleocytoplasmic proteins in signaling, transcription and cellular metabolism, and the roles of abnormal GlcNAcylation in diabetes, neurodegenerative disease and cancer (oncogene and tumor suppressor proteins, in particular). They also are focused on developing improved methods (eg. mass spectrometry and site-specific antibodies) for the study of the O-GlcNAc modification, some of which may have diagnostic value.
Dr. Lane studies the signals and genes that trigger adipose lineage commitment and differentiation in stem cells and the hypothalamic control of adiposity. The Lane lab aims to determine the mechanisms by which mesenchymal stem cells commit to the adipocyte lineage. Using mouse pluripotent stem and preadipocyte cell lines as models, his lab focuses on the signaling and gene transcription cascades that trigger these processes. The lab also aims to determine mechanisms by which whole body energy status is monitored by the hypothalamus and how this information is transmitted to higher brain centers to suppress food intake. They discovered that the hypothalamic malonyl-CoA, a biochemical indicator of energy surplus, reciprocally alters orexigenic & anorexigenic neuropeptide expression and thereby, appetite.
Dr. Moran is the Paul R. McHugh Professor for Motivated Behaviors. His laboratory focuses on the controls of eating as they relate to the etiology of obesity and eating disorders. The laboratory uses multiple approaches including cell systems, genetic and dietary models of obesity in rodents, and analyses of feeding behavior in nonhuman primates. Specific projects involve examination of gut/brain in satiety, the role of hypothalamic neuropeptide systems in energy balance, interactions between energy expenditure and food intake and the identification of epigenetic factors that can bias the organism toward diabetes and obesity. His laboratory also studies developmental factors that can contribute to alterations in neural maturation.
Sally Radovick, MD, is the Lawson Wilkins Professor of Pediatrics and Division Director of Pediatric Endocrinology at Johns Hopkins. 
Dr. Saudek is the inaugural Hugh P. McCormick Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Johns Hopkins and director of the Diabetes Center. He is recognized as an authority in diabetology and diabetes research. His pioneering work has included one of the first demonstrations that hemoblobin A1c can be used to assess diabetic control, setting the stage both for HbA1c becoming a standard clinical tool and the landmark studies ending the diabetic control/ complications controversies. He is now an investigator in the international ADAG Study, documenting the exact relationship between glycemia and HbA1c. Since moving to Johns Hopkins, Dr. Saudek’s research has concentrated on developing innovative technology in diabetes care, particularly the implantable insulin pump
