Projects Awarded

Janet Chou, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital 
Mechanism of autoimmunity in children and adolescents with obesity 

Natalia Machado, PhD, Instructor in Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Identification of preoptic neurons that control energy expenditure

Juan Matute, MD, Instructor in Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital
Intestinal Intelectin-1 in Obesity Pathogenesis

Allison Wu, MD, Instructor in Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital 
Intervening in Food Insecurity to Reduce and Mitigate (InFoRM) Childhood Obesity (Renewal)

Xia Xiao, PhD, Instructor in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital 
Role of hepatocyte SMAD1/5/8-mediated wntless in NAFLD/NASH fibrosis

Mehmet Furkan Burak, MD, Instructor, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Identification of immunometabolic alterations in adipo-pulmonary axis to treat obesity-related asthma (Renewal)

Yang Hu, ScD, Research Associate, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health 
Metabolic signatures of artificial sweetener intake, human gut microbiome, and body weight in free-living individuals. 

Lydia Lynch, PhD, Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School,  Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Investigating if the source of dietary fat, rather than obesity, dictates anti-tumor immunity (Renewal)

Jordi Merino, PhD, Instructor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital 
Clinical and physiological characterization of genetic variation influencing dietary intake (Renewal)

Lorena Sonia Pacheco, PhD, MPH, BS, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health 
Description of the home kitchen environment in Hispanic/Latinos in Boston, MA

Tracey Simon, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital 
Diet-and Gut-Derived Metabolite Profiles of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with Cirrhosis

Allison Jane Wu, MD, MPH, Instructor in Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital 
Intervening in Food Insecurity to Reduce and Mitigate (InFoRM) Childhood Obesity 

Chika Anekwe, MD, MPH, Instructor in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
Feasibility study of an intensive nutrition therapy program for improvement of obesity and diabetes in a low-income population

Frankie Heyward, PhD, Clinical Fellow in Pediatrics, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Determining the Direct Transcriptional Targets of STAT3 in AgRP Neurons (Renewal)

Lydia Lynch, PhD, Lecturer on Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Investigating if the source of dietary fat, rather than obesity, dictates anti-tumor immunity

Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón, PhD, Lecturer on Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Serum n3PUFA, urinary phthalates and reproductive health in women

Armen Yerevanian, MD, Instructor in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
Caloric Restriction Mimicry and Metabolic Reprogramming via Riboflavin Depletion

Yanjia Jason Zhang, MD, PhD. Clinical Fellow in Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital
Microbe-derived bioactive lipids that affect host satiety signaling and eating behaviors

Mehmet Furkan Burak, MD, Research Fellow, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Identification of immunometabolic alterations in adipo-pulmonary axis to treat obesity related asthma

Andrea G. Edlow, MD, MSc,  Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School
Fetal programming of mesolimbic dopamine signaling as a driver of transgenerational obesity (renewal)

Maarten Hulsmans, PhD, Instructor in Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School
Resolving macrophage heterogeneity of human atrial remodeling at single-cell level

Jacqueline M. Lane, PhD, Instructor in Anesthesia, Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School
The circadian clock as a treatment for obesity: developing an accurate, easy to use, and clinically meaningful measure of circadian disruption

Carmen Monthe-Dreze, MD, Instructor in Pediatrics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School
The Placenta and Pro-Resolving Superfamily of Mediators: New Insights into Intergenerational Obesity

Jingyi Qian, PhD, Research Fellow in Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School
Effects of Circadian Misalignment and Meal Timing on Metabolite Profiles

Margaret A Stefater, MD, PhD, Instructor in Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School
Using Intestinal Epithelial Organoids to Study Durability of and Mechanisms for Roux Limb Remodeling after Gastric Bypass Surgery​

Marc Wein, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School
The role of salt inducible kinases in obesity-associated systemic viral pathogenesis

Davene R. Wright, PhD,  Faculty of Population Medicine, Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare
Decision to Initiate Lifestyle Changes for Childhood Obesity (DIsCCO)

Laura Dichtel, MD, MHS, Instructor in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School
Molecular Mechanisms of Growth Hormone Action in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Lindsay T. Fourman, MD, Instructor in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School
Metabolic Sequelae of In Utero HIV Exposure: A Pilot Study

Frankie D. Heyward, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Rosen Lab in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School
Determining the Direct Transcriptional Targets of STAT3 in AgRP Neurons

Jacqueline Marie Lauer, PhD, MPH, Research Fellow, Boston Children’s Hospital
Assessing the Relationship Between Environmental Enteric Dysfunction and Poor Growth Via a Newly Developed 11-Plex Assay

Jordi Merino, RD, PhD, Instructor in Medicine, Diabetes Unit and Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
Clinical and Physiological Characterization of Genetic Variation Influencing Dietary Intake

Sarbattama Sen, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
The Role of Specialized Pro-Resolving Lipid Mediators in Linking Maternal Obesity with Offspring Asthma

Andrea Edlow, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital
Fetal origins of obesity and metabolic syndrome

Sara Looby, PhD, ANP-BC (Co-Principal Investigator with Kathleen Fitch, MSN, FNP-BC), Assistant Professor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
Exploring sweetener knowledge and consumption in people living with HIV

Samir Softic, MD, MSc, Instructor in Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital
Pathways of Fructose Metabolism

Vibha Singhal, MD, MSc, Instructor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
Determinants of Beta Cell Function Following Sleeve Gastrectomy in Adolescents

Chien Wen Su, PhD, Instructor in Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center
Helminth infection confers resistance to high fat diet-induced obesity

Mengyao Ella Li, BS, MS, PhD, Research Fellow, Joslin Diabetes Center
Contribution of gut microbiome to exercise training-generated beneficial effects

Pouneh K. Fazeli, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
Changes in Marrow Adipose Tissue in Response to Estradiol Cyclicity

Marie-France Hivert, MD, MMSC, Associate Professor, Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare
How to reach women of reproductive age with obesity to support weight loss before pregnancy?

Seth Rakoff-Nahoum, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Boston Childrens Hospital
Development of Ecologically-Rational Nutribiotics and Probiotics for the Pre-term Gut Microbiome

Christian Rask-Madsen, MD, PhD, Assistant Investigator, Joslin Diabetes Center
Endothelial Dysfunction in Obesity and Intestinal Stem Cell Function

Sarbattama Sen, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Maternal Obesity, Breastmilk Composition and Offspring Growth

Changzheng Yuan, BM, MSc, ScD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard School of Public Health
Obesity over the adult life course and late-life subjective cognitive function

Markella Zanni, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
Testing a Novel Hormonal Strategy to Reduce Myocardial Steatosis and Improve Cardiac Function among People Living with HIV

Abdelfattah El Ouaamari, PhD, Instructor in Medicine, Joslin Diabetes Center
Unraveling the neuro-anatomy of the endocrine pancreas

Kriston Ganguli, MD, Instructor in Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital
The use of probiotic metabolites in reducing the risk factors for necrotizing enterocolitis

Ida Hatoum, Sc.D, Instructor in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
Intergenerational effects of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass

Maureen Leonard, MD, Instructor of Pediatrics, Mass General Hospital for Children
Early Environmental Factors Predictive of Autoimmunity in Infants at Risk of Celiac Disease (competing renewal)

Deirdre Tobias, D.Sc, Instructor of Medicine; Associate Epidemiologist, Harvard Medical School; Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Joint relationships between obesity and cardiometabolic risk with postmenopausal breast cancer risk

Chien Wen Su, PhD, Instructor in Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center
Helminth infection confers resistance to high fat diet-induced obesity

Karen Bernstein, MD, Instructor in Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital
Effects of caloric restriction on post-operative complications in sarcoma patients treated with pre-operative radiation therapy

Lauren Gehler Fiechtner, MD, Instructor in Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital
Emerging early life risk factors for childhood obesity: an examination of diet and antibiotics in infants

Elizabeth L. Hohmann, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
Therapeutic targeting of gut microbiota for human obesity and metabolism

Janet Lo, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
Nutritional and Gastrointestinal Factors in Low Bone Density of HIV Disease

Kathleen Joan Sweadner, PH.D, Associate Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology in the Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital
Metabolism in a mutant mouse with elevated muscle activity