index page for Metabolic Training Program

KEY FACULTY |

PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Henri BRUNENGRABER | MD/PhD
Professor and Chair | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Nutrition

• • • Regulations of the pathways of fatty acid oxidation, ketone body metabolism, ethanol metabolism, citric acid cycle and gluconeogenesis.

PROGRAM CO-DIRECTORS
Richard HANSON | PhD
Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Biochemistry

• • • Control of gluconeogenesis and regulation of the turnover of triglyceride in mammals.

Faramarz ISMAIL-BEIGI | MD/PhD
Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Medicine - Division of Endocrinology

• • • Bioenergetics and the control of ATP production and utilization.

TRAINING FACULTY

Vernon ANDERSON | PhD
Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Departments of Biochemistry and Chemistry

• • • Enzyme catalyzed reactions at a fundamental level. The characterization of the interactions between substrates and enzyme active sites by spectroscopic and isotope effect studies.

Guy CHISOLM | PhD
Professor and Chair | The Cleveland Clinic Foundation | Department of Cell Biology

• • • Effects of Oxidized Lipids and Lipoproteins on Vascular Cells: Possible Role in Atherosclerosis.

Clark DISTELHORST | MD
Professor | University Hospitals Health Systems | Hematology and Oncology

• • • Understanding of the mechanism by which glucocorticosteroid hormones induce apoptosis in immature lymphocytes.

George DUBYAK | PhD
Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Physiology & Biophysics

• • • Fundamental aspects of nucleotide-based signal transduction: (i) the physiological and pathological roles of extracellular ATP in various pro-inflammatory cascades, and (ii) the mechanisms by which ATP and other nucleotides are released into, and metabolized within extracellular compartments.

Paul ERNSBERGER | PhD
Associate Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Nutrition

• • • Metabolic pharmacology defined as the study of the mechanisms of action of therapeutic agents with potential in metabolic diseases such as insulin resistance syndrome (metabolic Syndrome X), diabetes, hyperlipidemia and hypertension.

Paul FOX | PhD
Professor | The Cleveland Clinic Foundation | Department of Cell Biology

• • • Metabolic pharmacology defined as the study of the mechanisms of action of therapeutic agents with potential in metabolic diseases such as insulin resistance syndrome.

Saul GENUTH | MD
Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Medicine - Division of Endocrinology

• • • Factors influencing the incidence of microvascular and cardiovascular complications of diabetes and their pathogenesis.

Peter HARTE | PhD
Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Genetics

• • • Molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of homeotic gene expression during Drosophila development.

Maria HATZOGLOU | PhD
Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Nutrition

• • • Nutrient control of gene expression and the characterization of adaptive responses of cells to limited supply of nutrients.

Charles HOPPEL | MD
Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Pharmacology

• • • Role of carnitine in the control of fatty acid oxidation; carnitine biosynthesis and metabolism at the cellular and clinical levels.

Donald JACOBSEN | PhD
Professor | The Cleveland Clinic Foundation | Department of Cell Biology

• • • Hyperhomocysteinemia and the pathogenic mechanisms of homocysteine in atherogenesis and progression of atherothrombotic disease.

Satish KALHAN | MD
Professor | MetroHealth Medical Center/GCRC | Department of Pediatrics

• • • Metabolic adaptive responses of the mother during normal pregnancy and the role of maternal insulin resistance on maternal protein metabolism and fetal growth, the significance and mechanism of insulin resistance in puberty, and the consequence of insulin resistance on muscle protein metabolism in liver disease.

Timothy KERN | PhD
Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Ophthalmology

• • • Mechanism of diabetic retinopathy: leading cause of acquired blindness among young adults in this country.

Douglas KERR | MD/PhD
Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Pediatrics - Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism

• • • Disorders of mitochondrial function, namely defects of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, PDC, and pyruvate carboxylase, PC).

John KIRWAN | PhD
Associate Professor | Cleveland Clinic | Department of Pathobiology

• • • Research aimed at determining how exercise and diet alter the disease risks associated with insulin resistance, obesity, type 2 Diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the elderly and how aerobic exercise training and dietary restriction interventions improve cardio-respiratory function and reverse insulin resistance in the elderly.

Paul MacDONALD | PhD
Associate Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Pharmacology

• • • Research to understand the molecular details and signaling mechanisms involved in VDR-mediated gene expression.

Michael MAGUIRE | PhD
Professor and Chair | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Pharmacology

• • • Research focus: The multiple roles of Mg2+ and Mn2+ in bacterial metabolism and pathogenesis using primarily Salmonella Typhimurium as a model system.

William MERRICK | PhD
Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Biochemistry

• • • Eukaryotic protein synthesis, in vitro and in vivo.

Vincent MONNIER | MD/PhD
Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Departments of Pathology and Biochemistry

• • • Research centers on the chemistry and biology of amino-carbonyl reactions in the aging human lens. The Maillard reaction is initiated by the nonenzymatic condensation of highly reactive carbonyl compounds derived from reducing sugars, such as glucose, ascorbic acid, or the oxoaldehydes glyoxal and methylglyoxal.

Joseph NADEAU | PhD
Professor and Chair |  CASE • School of Medicine  | Department of Genetics
Co-Director |  Center for Computational Genomics

• • • Uses of combination of genetic, developmental, molecular, genomic and mathematical methods for studying disease genes, the physiological and developmental pathways in which these genes function, and interactions among these genes and environmental factors. Their research focuses on the genetic and phenotypic dissection of mouse models of human multifactorial disease traits.

Laura NAGY | PhD
Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Nutrition

• • • Research aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms of alcoholic liver disease, focusing particularly on the effects of ethanol on receptor-dependent signal transduction.

Krzysztof PALCZEWSKI | PhD
John H. Hord Professor and Chair | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Pharmacology

• • • The goal of my laboratory is to understand the retinoid metabolism. Specifically our focus is on (1) the retention of retinoids and (2) isomerization of all-trans-retinyl esters to 11-cis-retinol, a fundamental process of the chromophore formation essential for our vision around.

David SAMOLS | PhD
Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Biochemistry

• • • Laboratory research focusing on the mammalian acute phase response to inflammation, namely the large collection of metabolic and physiologic changes that occur shortly after the body has sustained tissue damage or infection. Among these changes is a re-orchestration of gene expression in the liver.

Martin SNIDER | PhD
Associate Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Biochemistry

• • • Laboratory research involving the transport of proteins across the blood-brain barrier and, in collaboration with Dr. Maria Hatzoglou in the Department of Nutrition, the regulation of expression of the cat1 gene, which encodes a plasma membrane transporter for the cationic amino acids, arginine and lysine.

Matthew WARMAN | MD
Associate Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Genetics & Pediatrics

• • • His research focuses on the understanding of biological pathways involved in skeletal growth and homeostasis as well as that of the biochemical process responsible for causing the neurological disorder Acute Necrotizing Encephalopathy.

Michael WEISS | MD, PhD
Professor and Chair | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Biochemistry

• • • His research focuses on two areas: the control of gene expression and protein folding and misfolding. Links are made to clinical phenotypes or disease mechanisms. Studies of gene expression include analysis of mammalian and viral transcription factors.

Jonathan WHITTAKER | MD
Associate Professor | CASE • School of Medicine | Department of Nutrition

• • • The major research interests of his laboratory are the structure, function and biology of the insulin/insulin-like growth factor family of peptides and their receptors. On-going projects focus on the elucidation of molecular mechanisms underlying the interaction of the ligands and their receptors. The strategies employed for this purpose utilize systematic mutational analyses, including alanine scanning and phage display techniques.

• • • Dr Wright’s research concentrates on the epidemiology and the treatment of hypertension, with an emphasis on its impact on the African-American population.