I have a long-standing dedication towards teaching and mentorship. From my graduate years through now, I have continuously taught intermediary metabolism through lectures to both graduate and medical students. In the latter case, I have been recipient of a Best Lecturer award three years in a row at UAB. In addition to classroom-based teaching, I have an established track record of mentoring undergraduates, graduates and postdoctoral fellows, and currently serve as a primary faculty member on at least four T32s.
During my doctoral studies, as well as initial postdoctoral training, I investigated novel mechanisms contributing to skeletal muscle insulin resistance, an underlying feature of type 2 diabetes. I naturally transitioned my research more towards cardiometabolic disease complications, assessing the mechanisms by which common environmental factors (e.g., diet) and metabolic disease states (e.g., diabetes, obesity) adversely influence cardiac contractility and therefore contribute to the pathogenesis of heart failure.
Currently, my research is dedicated to understanding the interrelationship between cardiac metabolism and contractility, and the mechanisms by which imbalances between substrate availability and utilization impair cardiac form and function. This expertise is illustrated through both publication and funding histories.
I have published over 130 peer reviewed manuscripts in top tear journals, such as Circulation Research and Journal of Biological Chemistry, and have been commissioned by numerous journals (including Nature Reviews Endocrinology) for the completion of multiple invited review articles. Currently, I am co-chairing a coordinated effort to generate an AHA Statement focused on ‘Assessing Cardiac Metabolism’, which will ultimately be published in Circulation Research. |
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