About

My research focuses on uncovering the molecular mechanisms that regulate lipid metabolism in the liver and adipose tissue during fasting and feeding, with particular emphasis on proteins that influence lipid metabolic pathways.

Throughout human evolution, starvation was a major threat to our survival. As a result, starvation was the key selective pressure shaping the foundational principles of nutrient and energy metabolism. Starvation triggers a multi-organ response that aims to maintain physiological homeostasis and meet the energy requirements of various tissues through reliance on our internal stores. An intricate network of evolutionarily conserved transcriptional, translational, and post-translational regulatory mechanisms underlie the adaptive response to undernutrition and ensure maximal survival during periods of starvation. 

As overnutrition is surpassing undernutrition as the most common global health threat, the thrifty metabolic system that once enabled humans to survive starvation now contributes to the unprecedented rise in obesity and related diseases. My research is driven by the notion that the consequences of overnutrition can only be fully understood by having detailed insight into the foundational mechanisms regulating lipid and energy metabolism during undernutrition and fasting. Further mechanistic understanding of how humans respond to fasting could hold the key to designing effective preventive and therapeutic strategies for overnutrition and several cardiometabolic diseases linked to overnutrition, including obesity, insulin resistance, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, and atherosclerosis. Consistent with this notion, many popular drug targets for cardiometabolic diseases represent fasting-responsive messengers and sensors.

The common thread throughout my professional career has been the study of the mechanisms and functional impact of gene regulation by lipids during feeding and fasting. The main aim of my research is to better understand how lipid metabolism is regulated during feeding and fasting, and how lipids govern their own metabolism and influence specific functional outcomes. The primary focus is on the key organs relevant to lipid metabolism, specifically the liver and adipose tissue, the transport of lipids from and to these organs, and the interplay between these organs and other relevant systems, such as the immune system. In my research, a multi-pronged approach is used that ranges from dietary intervention studies in human subjects to physiological experiments in transgenic animals and detailed mechanistic studies in vitro.

Team

Sander Kersten, Ph.D., Director and the Schleifer Family Professor of Molecular Nutrition

Maryam Sammakia

Philip Ruppert, Ph.D.
Philip examines how fasting and nutrition influence adipose tissue function and whole-body metabolism. His research combines transcriptomic and epigenetic approaches to uncover how chromatin regulation in fat cells shapes lipid storage and energy balance. He also applies extensive physiological phenotyping, including indirect calorimetry, to connect molecular mechanisms with whole-body metabolic outcomes.

Rong Fan, Ph.D. 
Rong studies novel mechanisms of regulation of plasma triglyceride partitioning. Using mouse models, Rong’s current research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms regulating lipid partitioning during pregnancy and lactation, especially in the mammary gland. Additionally, she works on investigating the mechanism of post-transcriptional modifications of ANGPTL4.

Mingjuan Deng, Ph.D.
Mingjuan investigates the role of a novel fasting-induced gene in the regulation of plasma cholesterol and triglyceride metabolism. Her research integrates human genetics with advanced in vitro and in vivo models to deepen our understanding of how fasting regulates systemic lipid metabolism.

Larissa van der Zon, Ph.D. student, Field of Nutrition
Larissa is exploring the bidirectional relationship between lipids and the immune system to identify key immunometabolic pathways that regulate immune cell function. Her approach integrates in vitro immune cell models and human fasting studies with high-throughput cellular energy profiling and transcriptomic analyses. Her research could help uncover targets to restore impaired inflammatory responses in the context of metabolic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. 

Ho Yarn (Elva) Wong, Ph.D. student, Field of Nutrition
Elva investigates the regulation of lipid metabolism in the liver and heart. Her research utilizes cellular and animal models to investigate the underlying mechanisms driving lipid accumulation in cardiomyocytes. In addition, she explores the role of a novel gene in the regulation of lipid metabolism and its connection to metabolic dysfunction-associated liver disease.

Nayeon Jeon, Ph.D. student, Field of Nutrition
Nayeon studies how fasting affects metabolic pathways during different reproductive stages. Her primary focus is on the impact of fasting in the liver and adipose tissue, with a special interest in different reproductive stages such as pregnancy and lactation.

Publications and research studies

View the complete list of published works in my bibliography or on Google scholar.

We are not recruiting participants for studies at this time. We will update this page when future studies are initiated. 

Learn more about other DNS research studies that are actively recruiting participants.