Among epigenetic marks that show any variation at all, most of that variation is cell type-specific.  This is consistent with our general understanding that epigenetic mechanisms mediate cell type differentiation, helping cells turn genes on or off in a way that is appropriate to that cell's lifestyle.  Because of...

One of my first projects as a masters student in Alfonso Abizaid's lab involved a rat model of postnatal over- and undernutrition. Like the work that would follow, this project was based on the developmental programming paradigm (explained in more detail here and here). Part of the 'package' that comes...

In collaboration with the the chemistry department at Carleton, I helped in conducting studies on the antioxidant effects of various compounds.  These studies combined the Abizaid lab's expertise in mouse models of obesity and metabolic function with the biochemical techniques of the chemistry department. In one study, lead by Apollinaire Tsopmo, we...

Some of my side projects in the Abizaid lab focused on various aspects of ghrelin signalling in the brain, and how this may mediate behavioural and metabolic adaptations to psychosocial stress and nutritional challenge. Ghrelin is a peptide hormone secreted by the stomach. It was initially thought to be a...

After I finished my Ph.D. in Neuroscience, I moved to Houston, Texas to join Dr. Robert Waterland’s lab at the Baylor College of Medicine as a postdoctoral fellow. The intellectual backdrop for my Ph.D. work was a concept called ‘developmental programming’, which refers to the ability for the early-life...

Obesity seems to befall some people for no obvious reason. To be sure it runs in families, but as far as we can tell one's risk of becoming obese is at best a little more than 50% genetic. People who are obese behave differently - you can only gain...