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Molecular Genetics
Faculty
Rudolph Leibel, MD, Head, Division of Molecular Genetics, Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine
Wendy Chung, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Michael Rosenbaum, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics
Yiying Zhang, PhD, Assistant Professor of Molecular & Cell Biology in Pediatrics
Charles LeDuc, PhD, Associate Research Scientist
Lori Zeltser, PhD, Associate Research Scientist
Seung Yang, MD – Visiting Assistant Professor
Affiliated Faculty
Anthony Ferrante, MD, PHD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine
Anne-Marie Brillantes, MD, Instructor of Clinical Medicine, Department of Medicine
Drew Tororiello, MD, Assistant Professor of Ob/Gyn, Department of Ob/Gyn
Stuart Fischer, PhD – special research scientist.
Computational strategies for harvesting, aligning and analyzing DNA sequence from mice to identify genes mediating susceptibility to type 2 diabetes in the context of obesity.
Post Doctoral Fellows and Research Scientists
Lingzhi Li, PhD (Zhang) – post doctoral research scientist. Molecular mechanisms for the metabolic regulation of leptin gene transcription.
George Stratigopoulos, PhD – (Leibel/Chung) post doctoral research scientist. Identifying variants that contribute towards an obese phenotype in humans. Developing expression assays for measuring RNA and protein levels of SMN1 and SMN2 in blood of SMA patients and similarly, in transgenic mouse tissue.
Stuart Weisberg, PhD – (Ferrante/Leibel) post doctoral research fellow.
Molecular basis for adipocyte-related signals.
Predoctoral and undergraduate students
John Overton (Leibel) – predoctoral graduate student. Mechanisms regulating body fat and metabolic disorders related to obesity such as insulin resistance. Molecular physiology of Mahogunin Ring Finger-1 (Mgrn1), which has been linked to melanocortin function in the mouse.
Nao Wakae (Leibel) – predoctoral graduate student (Dept. of Genetics). Molecular genetics of type 2 diabetes
Aliki Kosteli (Ferrante/Leibel)- predoctoral graduate student (Nutrition).
Obesity-induced inflammation.
Jill Carmody (Zeltser/Leibel) – predoctoral graduate student (Nutrition). Development of mouse model for maternal insulin resistance.
Irene Tsui (Zeltser/Leibel) – predoctoral graduate student (Nutrition). Identification of novel lineage markers of arcuate neurons to characterize the expression of genes and gene products in the hypothalamus.
Division Highlights
Berrie Program in Cellular Therapies of Diabetes
This is an international program to evaluate the molecular basis for the development and function of insulin producing cells in the pancreas. The program is now at the end of its 3rd year, and has been extended for a 4th year.
Frontiers in Diabetes Research
The Annual Frontiers in Diabetes Research symposium is a full day symposium with presentation of the Naomi Berrie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Diabetes Research international recognized leaders in the field of diabetes research.
The Pollin Award, in Pediatric Research
The Annual Pollin Award, is an international award for biomedical research presented to leaders in improvement in children's health.
New York Obesity Research Center (NYORC)
Dr. Leibel is Co-Director of the NYORC, and Director (along with Drs. Wendy Chung and Streamson Chua) of the Molecular Biology/Molecular Genetics Core.
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Rudolph Leibel, M.D.
Dr. Leibel is the Chief of the Division of Molecular Genetics and the Co-Director of the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center. He is a Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine.
Dr. Leibel is internationally recognized for this work and has received a number of prizes and honorary lectureships. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and a member of the Federal Advisory Council for NIDDK. His laboratory has trained many students at all levels in research related to obesity and diabetes. Within the past year, three of Dr. Leibel's students have received PhD's from Columbia University. All these projects were related to the molecular physiology of obesity and/or diabetes in mice. Dr. Leibel is Co-Director of the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center, and Executive Director of the Berrie Program in Cellular Therapies of Diabetes. He is also Co-Director of the New York Obesity Research Center and the Columbia University Diabetes and Endocrinology Research Center. Both are NIH-funded Centers
For the past 25 years, Dr. Leibel and his associates have conducted studies on the metabolic consequences of experimental weight perturbation in obese and never-obese human subjects. These studies have been performed in Clinical Research Center venues, permitting rigorous control of diet and physical activity. These were the first studies to document and quantify the persistent lowering of energy expenditure-beyond that explicable by altered body mass and composition-that accompanies the maintenance of a reduced body weight. Subsequent studies have shown that altered skeletal muscle metabolism in low work states is an important contributor to the reduction in energy expenditure. Using in-vitro NMR and biochemical/molecular analysis of skeletal muscle biopsy samples, the molecular mechanisms for these changes are being sought.
Recently, Leibel and his associate, Michael Rosenbaum, have shown that many of the most important physiological aspects of the formerly-obese state are rectified by the administration of very low ("replacement") doses of exogenous leptin. These studies suggest that the reduced- obese state is, in some regards, a state of relative leptin deficiency due to reduced body fat. These observations point to potential therapeutic approaches to correcting this phenotype, and improving success at long term maintenance of reduced body weight.
Anne Marie Brillantes, M.D.
Dr. Brillantes is an instructor in the Division of Endocrinology (Dept. of Medicine). Her research involves the molecular basis for mouse strain-related differences in beta cell neogenesis and apoptosis. These studies are relevant to clinical issues such as islet transplantation and improved islet function in type 2 diabetes.
Wendy Chung, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Chung is a Herbert Irving Assistant Professor of pediatrics in medicine whose research relates to the molecular genetics of obesity and diabetes in rodents and humans, the genetic basis of congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathies, and cancer susceptibility. She is the director of the Pediatric Heart Network Genetic Core and the Pediatric Neuromuscular Network Molecular Core. She is also director of the Clinical Genetics Program.
Anthony Ferrante, Ph.D., M.D.
Dr. Ferrante is an Assistant Professor in Clinical Medicine. He is focused on the role of macrophages in the production of adipose tissue cytokines.
Stuart Fischer, PhD
Dr. Fischer is a research scientist. He develops computational strategies for harvesting, aligning and analyzing DNA sequence from mice to identify genes mediating susceptibility to type 2 diabetes in the context of obesity.
Aliki Kosteli, B.S.
Ms. Kosteli is pre-doctoral graduate student in the Institute of Human Nutrition. She is working on obesity-induced inflammation.
Jill Carmody, B.S.
Ms. Carmody is a predoctoral graduate student in the Institute of Human Nutrition. She is working on the development of mouse models for maternal insulin resistance.
Charles LeDuc, Ph.D.
Dr. LeDuc is an Associate Research Scientist whose doctorate is in chemical engineering. His research relates to the molecular genetics of type 2 diabetes in mice.
Lingzhi Li, PhD
Dr. Li is a post doctoral research scientist focusing on molecular mechanisms for the metabolic regulation of leptin gene transcription.
John Overton, B.S.
Mr. Overton is a pre-doctoral graduate student in the Institute of Human Nutrition. He is working on the molecular pathogenesis of obesity in mice.
Michael Rosenbaum, M.D.
Dr. Rosenbaum is an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Medicine. His work focuses on the physiology of the control of body weight in humans.
George Stratigopoulos, Ph.D.
Dr. Stratigopoulos is a post doctoral research scientist in the Divison of Molecular Genetics. His research is focused on identifying variants that contribute towards an obese phenotype in humans.
Irene Tsui , B.S.
Ms. Tsui is a predoctoral graduate student in the Institute of Human Nutrition. She is working on Identification of novel lineage markers of arcuate neurons to characterize the expression of genes and gene products in the hypothalamus.
Nao Wakae, B.S.
Ms. Wakae is a predoctoral graduate student in the Department of Genetics. His work is focused on the molecular genetics of type 2 diabetes
Stuart Weisberg, Ph.D.
Dr. Weisberg is a post-doctoral fellow in the Division of Molecular Genetics. His research is focused on the role of macrophages in the regulation of insulin homeostasis.
Lori Zeltser, Ph.D.
Dr. Zeltser is an Associate Research Scientist in the department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysiology. She is working on developmental neurobiology of the hypothalamus.
Yiying Zhang, Ph.D.
Dr. Zhang is a Research Scientist in Pediatrics. Her areas of interest are the leptin axis and adipose tissue.
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