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Ajay ChawlaAcademic Appointments
Appointment
Organization
Assistant Professor
Member
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Honors & Awards
Title
Organization
Date(s)
Member
American Society of Clinical Investigation
2008
Culpepper Medical Sciences Scholar
Goldman Philanthropic Partnerships
2004
Rita Allen Scholar
Rita Allen Foundation
2003
Professional Education
Degree
Awarding Institution
Field of Study
Year of Graduation
Ph.D.
University of Pennyslvania
Physiology
1996
M.D.
University of Pennsylvania
Medicine
1996
B.Sc.
Johns Hopkins University
Biomedial Engineering
1989
Postdoctoral Advisees
Jose Heredia,
Hani Jouihan,
Daniel Machemer
Research Interests
Nuclear receptors are a large family of ligand-dependent transcription factors that regulate various aspects of vertebrate biology, including development, homeostasis and differentiation. A subset of this superfamily, the adopted orphan receptors serve as the body’s lipid sensors and work together to maintain cellular lipid homeostasis. Since intake of excess dietary lipids has been epidemiologically linked to various human diseases (such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and impaired immunity), it is critical to understand the molecular mechanisms by which these receptors regulate the underlying physiologic and pathophysiologic processes. Towards this goal, our laboratory studies the function of two adopted orphan receptors, PPAR gamma and PPAR delta, in macrophages and dendritic cells. We use a combination of techniques and tools, including molecular biology, transgenic and knockout mice, stem cells, genomics, and mouse models of disease, to dissect the receptor signaling pathways that control macrophage and dendritic cell activation.
Publications
- Odegaard JI, Ricardo-Gonzalez RR, Red Eagle A, Vats D, Morel CR, Goforth MH, Subramanian V, Mukundan L, Ferrante AW, Chawla A "Alternative M2 activation of Kupffer cells by PPARdelta ameliorates obesity-induced insulin resistance." Cell Metab 2008; 7: 6: 496-507 More »
- Odegaard JI, Ricardo-Gonzalez RR, Goforth MH, Morel CR, Subramanian V, Mukundan L, Red Eagle A, Vats D, Brombacher F, Ferrante AW, Chawla A "Macrophage-specific PPARgamma controls alternative activation and improves insulin resistance." Nature 2007; More »
- Vats D, Mukundan L, Odegaard JI, Zhang L, Smith KL, Morel CR, Greaves DR, Murray PJ, Chawla A "Oxidative metabolism and PGC-1beta attenuate macrophage-mediated inflammation." Cell Metab 2006; 4: 1: 13-24 More »
- Rııos-Cardona D, Ricardo-Gonzıılez RR, Chawla A, Ferrell JE "A role for GPRx, a novel GPR3/6/12-related G-protein coupled receptor, in the maintenance of meiotic arrest in Xenopus laevis oocytes." Dev Biol 2008; More »
- Odegaard JI, Vats D, Zhang L, Ricardo-Gonzalez R, Smith KL, Sykes DB, Kamps MP, Chawla A "Quantitative expansion of ES cell-derived myeloid progenitors capable of differentiating into macrophages." J Leukoc Biol 2006; More »
11 publications: view full list
