Obesity affects one in three adults worldwide and represents the most significant risk factor for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome. Currently, there is no generally effective, affordable medical therapy for obesity that complements ongoing efforts to educate the public about diet and exercise regimens.

We are interested in fundamental aspects of metabolic regulation, particularly how dietary stress acts on adipose tissue to influence the co-morbidities of obesity. Recent efforts in our laboratory use a combination of genetic mouse models, immunophenotyping, metabolomics, and molecular biology to examine the interactions between parenchymal and stromal cell types within adipose tissue as a platform to treat obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders.