Biography

Research Interests

My group works on the SREBP family of transcription factors. These transcription factors control cholesterol and lipid metabolism and play critical roles during adipocyte differentiation and insulin-dependent gene expression. Disturbances in lipid metabolism are at the very core of several major health issues facing modern society, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes. Thus, the factors and signals that regulate the function of the SREBP family of proteins are very relevant to metabolic disease. In fact, the cholesterol-lowering action of the statin family of drugs is dependent on SREBP function. Taken together, the statins is a multi-billion business for the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, SREBP-dependent lipid synthesis contributes to the development of insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes, a major health issue in Qatar. We recently completed several large-scale molecular screens to identify novel regulators of the SREBP pathway. The long-term goal of this work is to establish if any of these regulators could represent novel therapeutic targets in diabetes and/or metabolic disease. A more immediate goal is to establish physiologically relevant human cell systems based on pluripotent stem cells to further study the link between disturbances in lipid metabolism and the development of diabetes and metabolic disease. More generally, these types of model systems may provide an important complement to animal and human/patient studies, and may become especially important for drug development. We are very interested in setting up collaborations with academic/industry partners working with stem-cell-derived cells relevant to metabolic/cardiovascular disease. We are also exploring 3D/spheroid cell culture techniques in order to more accurately model the in vivo environment. More generally, these in vitro systems could become very important during drug development.
 

Experience

Education

Selected Publications