Research Interests:
Coagulation, thrombosis, hemostasis, fibrinolysis, genetics, platelet, sexual dimorphism, growth hormone signaling, fatty liver disease, regulation of energy metabolism and obesity
Summary:
Our group has two main interests. The first is to understand the mechanisms underlying the regulation of energy metabolism by growth hormone. Growth hormone is well-known to promote lipolysis as a means of mobilizing energy from stores in the form of free fatty acids. To accommodate tissues and organs with increased energy needs, fatty acid uptake is also regulated by growth hormone. The precise molecular mechanisms driving these two processes remain unclear. With an aim toward understanding mechanisms of obesity and related conditions, we use a molecular and cellular approach combined with mouse genetic models to understand how growth hormone regulates lipolysis and the uptake of fatty acid by cells and tissues.
Our second interest is in defining novel mechanisms of thrombosis susceptibility. Our group has had a long interest in thrombosis. Recently, we have focused on understanding ways to modulate thrombosis risk without increasing the risk of bleeding. Here, we also use molecular, cellular, and mouse genetics approaches.