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Faculty Detail    
Name TIMOTHY R NAGY
  
Campus Address WEBB 421 Zip 3360
Phone  (20-5) -088
E-mail  tnagy@uab.edu
Other websites http://main.uab.edu/shrp/default.aspx?pid=79590
     


Faculty Appointment(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Primary  Nutrition Sciences   Nutrition Sciences Chair Office Professor
Secondary  NSM Dean's Office (Org Ret)  Biology (Org Ret) Associate Professor
Center  Comp Arthritis, MSK, Bone & Autoimmunity Ctr  Comp Arthritis, MSK, Bone & Autoimmunity Ctr Professor
Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center Professor
Center  Comprehensive Diabetes Center  Comprehensive Diabetes Center Professor
Center  General Clinical Research Center  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci Professor
Center  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology  Ctr for Exercise Medicine Professor
Center  Integrative Center for Aging Research  Integrative Center for Aging Research Professor
Center  Medicine  Ctr Cardiovasc Bio (Org Ret) Professor
Center  General Clinical Research Center  Minority Health & Research Center Professor
Center  Nutrition Sciences   Clin Nutrition Res (Org Ret) Professor
Center  Nutrition Sciences   Nutrition Obesity Res Ctr (NORC) Professor

Graduate Biomedical Sciences Affiliations
Hughes Med-Grad Fellowship Program 
Medical Scientist Training Program 

Society Memberships
Organization Name Position Held Org Link
American Association for Cancer Research     
American Diabetes Associations     
American Physiological Society     
American Society for Bone Mineral Research     
American Society for Nutritional Sciences     
Comparative Nutrition Society     
North American Association for the Study of Obesity     
 



Research/Clinical Interest
Title
Atypical antipsychotic drug-induced weight gainObesity, caloric restriction and cancerSmall-animal phenotyping
Description
Dr. Nagy is a Professor of Nutrition Sciences, Director of the Division of Physiology and Metabolism, and Director of the PhD Program in Nutrition Sciences. He directs the Small Animal Phenotyping Laboratory that is a resource for the UAB Clinical Nutrition Research Center, the UAB Center for Metabolic Bone Disease, and the UAB Neuroscience Blueprint Center. Dr. Nagys research is focused on three areas: (1) the regulation of body weight, (2) the development and validation of methods for phenotyping small animals, and (3) the link among body fat, caloric restriction and cancer. Dr. Nagys studies on the regulation of body weight have utilized both humans and animal models. Currently his studies are focused on animal models to better understand the mechanisms regulating energy expenditure and thus body weight. These studies include antipsychotic drug-induced weight gain, the role of uncoupling proteins, and the role of dairy in weight loss and bone health. During Dr. Nagys studies on the regulation of energy expenditure using animal models, he realized the need to improve the measurement of body composition in small animals, especially in vivo methods. Thus, he worked with two medical imaging companies to adapt human peripheral dual-energy X-ray absorptiometers (DXA) for use with mice. Dr. Nagy was the first to validate and publish on the use of DXA for measurements of fat, lean, and bone in mice. He has extended his interest in imaging techniques to that of peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT). His studies have demonstrated that pQCT can be used to determine relative body fat and the relative fat content of organs in mice and rats. Recently, Dr. Nagy acquired a micro-computed tomography instrument and is currently validating its use for both hard and soft tissue. These non-invasive techniques are extremely useful and important tools for bone and obesity researchers using animal models in their research. The final area of research interest is the link among body fat, caloric restriction, and cancer. Dr. Nagy has developed a mouse model in which energy intake can be held constant while body fat is modified by varying energy expenditure using ambient temperature. Thus multiple groups of mice, whose body fat are vastly different but food intake is the same, can be studied. This line of research will determine the independent effects of body fat on cancer.

Selected Publications 
Publication PUBMEDID
Nagy TR, ML Blaylock, and WT Garvey. 2004. Role of UCP2 and 3 in nutrition and obesity. Nutrition. 20:139-144.   
Cope MB, TR Nagy, JR Fernandez, N Geary, DE Casey, and DB Allison. 2005. Antipsychotic drug-induced weight gain: development of an animal model. Int. J. Obesity, 29:607-614.   
Chen A, B Brar, CS Choi, D Rousso, J Vaughan, U Kuperman, SN Kim, C Donaldson, SM Smith, C Li, TR Nagy, GI Shulman, KF Lee, and W Vale. 2006. Urocortin 2 modulates glucose utilization and insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle. PNAS,103:16580-16585.   
Huffman DM, MS Johnson, A Watts, A Elgavish, IA Eltoum, and TR Nagy. 2007. Cancer progression in the transgenic adenocarcinoma of mouse prostate mouse is related to energy balance, body mass, and body composition, but not food intake. Cancer Res., 67:417-424.   
Cope MB, P Jumbo-Lucioni, RG Walton, RA Kesterson, DB Allison, and TR Nagy. 2007. No effect of dietary fat on short-term weight gain in mice treated with atypical antipsychotic drugs. Int. J. Obesity, 31:1014-1022.   
Huffman DM, WE Grizzle, MM Bamman, J Kim, IA Eltoum, A Elgavish, and TR Nagy. 2007. SIRT1 is significantly elevated in mouse and human prostate cancer. Cancer Res., 67:6612-6618.