Guertin Lab News

Dr. Guertin spoke in Canada, China, and Kazakhstan to share the laboratory’s research in adipose biology and metabolism.

Postdoctoral researcher, Flaviane Silva, presented talks at the TSC International & FASEB Science Research Conferences.  She shared data from her project, which investigated how nutrient-sensing pathways, specifically mTOR and the Rag GTPases, contribute to renal cyst formation in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) and other renal cystic diseases.

Emma Mohlmann joined the lab as a PhD student. She will study the effects of adipose tissue browning on mTOR substrates in humans. Additionally, she aims to understand the mechanisms that activate browning through mTOR signaling, with the goal of discovering potential therapeutic targets for obesity and aging. 

Flaviane received a Faculty Award at the UMass Chan Medical School Educational Recognition Awards ceremony. 

Kate Korobkina successfully defended her PhD thesis and will continue her research in metabolism as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Ed Chouchani’s lab at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Postdoctoral researcher Flaviane Silva was awarded a prestigious TSC Alliance Fellowship.  Her project aims to understand the role of a protein called Rag GTPase in renal cystic diseases and Renal cell carcinoma (RCC).  It could also be linked to understanding kidney biology, which is relevant to studies on type 2 diabetes and obesity. 

Alex Boucher joined the lab as a second-year PhD student. His research focuses on Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD).

Newly minted PhD, John Haley joined the new Metabolomics Core Facility launched in the Program in Molecular Medicine at UMass Chan Medical School.  

PhD candidate John Haley was named an Emerging Scientist in Metabolism by Weill Cornell Medicine.  He was awarded the top prize in a national competition for senior graduate students conducting research on metabolism. Haley plans to pursue post-doctoral training focusing on the intersection of metabolism and signaling.

Flaviane Silva earned her PhD at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, focusing on adipose tissue plasticity and hypercortisolism.  She joins us to explore the regulation and function of adipocyte thermogenesis pathways, with the aim of identifying new disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets.

David Guertin published a review on Acetyl-CoA Metabolism in Cancer in the prestigious journal Nature Reviews Cancer with close collaborator, Katy Wellen from the University of Pennsylvania.  Dysregulation of acetyl-CoA processes can promote tumor growth but dysfunctional acetyl-CoA metabolism is also central to obesity and type 2 diabetes.  Thus, the work discussed in this review is broadly relevant to human diseases.  

The Guertin lab had a strong presence at the 2023 joint Keystone meeting, "Adipose Tissue: Energizing the Good Fat," held in conjunction with "Bioenergetics in Health and Disease" in Colorado. Kate Korobkina received a Riccio travel award for UMass Chan Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences students to present her research. Kate, fellow graduate student John Haley, and postdoc Marie Isidor, PhD, presented posters. Marie received a travel award from the Novo Nordisk Center for Basic Research that also supports her postdoctoral research. Dr. Guertin was invited to present the lab's recent work on adipose tissue metabolic fluxes.