Research Faculty Spotlight: Naima Moustaid-Moussa
Dr. Naima Moustaid-Moussa, formally from the UT Department of Nutrition and the UTOak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL) Graduate School of Genome Science and Technology, joined the Animal Science Faculty in January, 2008. She now holds a joint appointment in the UT Agricultural Experiment Station and UT Extension, Family and Consumer Sciences. Dr. Moustaid-Moussa also serves as the Co-Director of the University of Tennessee Obesity Research Center (UTORC).
She earned her Ph.D. in Endocrinology from the University of Paris, France and completed postdoctoral training at the Harvard School of Public Health with a focus on molecular nutrition. Dr. Moustaid-Moussa’s primary research areas are adipocyte (fat cell) biology, and endocrinology; the renin angiotensin system; interactions of insulin, diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure (hypertension); genomics and proteomics; and nutrient-gene interactions.
As co-director of the UTORC, she is interested in characterizing the mechanisms by which adipose tissue contributes to obesity and associated disorders including diabetes and hypertension. This involves studying the endocrine functions of mouse and human adipose tissue and secreted proteins, and investigating the effects of nutrients, hormones and disease states on fat cell development, gene expression and metabolism. One major research focus in her laboratory has been to understand the physiological function and regulation of the renin angiotensin system (RAS). Angiotensin is a hormone that Dr. Moustaid-Moussa discovered to be produced by fat cells, and which promotes fat storage in a glucose-dependent and insulin-like manner. The discovery of Angiotensin II in fat cells suggests a potential role of fat cells in high blood pressure associated with obesity. Dr. Moustaid-Moussa is using mouse models to further characterize this relationship to changes of diet, hormones and disease states. Her lab is applying genetics, genomics and proteomics to better understand the overall function of adipocytes and their regulation by nutrients and hormones in obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Recent collaborative efforts include screening for aging phenotypes in mutant mice produced at the Tennessee Mouse Genome Consortium, partly funded by the National Institute of Health. Ongoing collaborations with Dr. Brynn Voy at ORNL investigate gene-environment interactions using unique inbred strains of mice, and other collaborations include multidisciplinary studies of obesity and use of food animals as models for obesity research.
Research Faculty Spotlight: Gina Pighetti
I enjoy learning, discovering how
things work, and solving problems. One
of the major issues we have in the dairy
industry is mastitis, an infection of the
mammary gland that affects every herd
and costs the industry approximately $2
billion each year. Therefore, a large portion
of my time is spent identifying why
certain cows tend to become sick more
often. Over time, we have selected for
high producers at the expense of the
cow’s ability to fight off infections. Producers
want to breed for healthier cows,
but several problems exist. One, we do
not have a central, organized system of
records to make decisions. Two, mastitis
and other diseases are caused by a variety
of organisms and cow responses differ.
Many genes are responsible for effective
responses, making it difficult to identify a
single factor or gene of importance. But,
with hard work and a little luck, we’ve
identified a gene marker tied to mastitis.
The marker is located in a gene that controls
how quickly immune cells reach the
site of infection and their killing ability.
Studies are underway to identify what
makes cows with the marker more susceptible or resistant to mastitis. The results
of this research have multiple benefits:
1) we can select cows faster and
more accurately determine their health
potential, and 2) once we identify why
cows are more susceptible, this knowledge
will offer new strategies to prevent
or treat mastitis.