Welcome to the Bridges Lab

Bridges Lab Photo

We are interested in the factors which cause obesity, the mechanisms by which this happens and how interventions in this pathway can alleviate obesity or its associated diseases. Our group uses a variety of model systems including cell culture, yeast, flies and mice to understand the signaling and metabolic pathways which are involved in these processes. We then use modern molecular biology, genetic and pharmacological tools to manipulate and learn more about the physiology of obesity.

Find Out More About Us

Recent Publications

  1. Molly Mulcahy, Noura El Habbal, JeAnna Redd, Haijing Sun, Brigid Gregg and Dave Bridges. GDF15 knockout does not substantially impact perinatal body weight or neonatal outcomes in mice 2024. Endocrinology Our Thoughts Details Publisher Link
  2. Laura Saslow, Alison O'Brien, Kaitlyn Raymond, Hovig Bayandorian, Deanna Marriott, Judith Moskowitz, Jennifer Daubenmier, Dave Bridges, Cody Cousineau and Dina Griauzde. Feasibility and acceptability of an online multicomponent very low-carbohydrate intervention in young adult women with obesity: a pilot study 2024. Pilot and Feasibility Studies 10(1):102 Details Publisher Link
  3. Cody Cousineau, Detrick Snyder, JeAnna Redd, Sophia Turner, Treyton Carr and Dave Bridges. Reduced beta-hydroxybutyrate disposal after ketogenic diet feeding in mice 2024. bioRxiv Details Publisher Link Preprint
  4. Michael Saul, Elizabeth Litkowski, Niran Hadad, Amy Dunn, Stephanie Boas, Jon Wilcox, Julia Robbins, Yiyang Wu, Vivek Philip, Gennefer Merrihew, Jea Park, Philip De Jager, Dave Bridges, Vilas Menon, David Bennett, Timothy Hohman, Michael MacCoss and Catherine Kaczorowski. Hippocampus Glutathione S Reductase Potentially Confers Genetic Resilience to Cognitive Decline in the AD-BXD Mouse Population 2024. bioRxiv Details Publisher Link Preprint
  5. Cody Cousineau, Kaelin Loftus, Gary Churchill and Dave Bridges. Cross-sectional association between blood cholesterol and calcium levels in genetically diverse strains of mice 2023. FEBS Open Biology 14(3):426-433 Our Thoughts Details Publisher Link

Click here for a list of papers.

Blog Posts

Click here for a list of posts.

News

Congratulations to @cece.oc for her prize winning poster presentation on chronic stress and breastfeeding at last week’s Caswell Diabetes Institute annual meeting!
November 6, 2025
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Sharing our team’s recent work at yesterday’s excellent CDI-MOND symposium
October 31, 2025
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Along with Dr. Alex Rickard and the SPH Media team we have been developing new virtual reality tools both for teaching and for lab safety. Check out this link from the Center for Academic Innovation describing some of this work
October 22, 2025
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The Caswell Diabetes Institute is starting a free and open community-focused seminar series at the Ann Arbor District Library. Come learn from University of Michigan experts about the latest insights into diabetes prevention, treatment, and research.
September 9, 2025
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Excellent news about the new Center of Excellence for Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health at University of Michigan School of Public Health
August 12, 2025
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Click here for our Facebook page.

Journal Club

2025 Journal Club Articles

  • O'Sullivan EJ, Perrine CG, Rasmussen KM. Early Breastfeeding Problems Mediate the Negative Association between Maternal Obesity and Exclusive Breastfeeding at 1 and 2 Months Postpartum. J Nutr. 2015 Oct;145(10):2369-78. doi: 10.3945/jn.115.214619. Epub 2015 Aug 19. PMID: 26290005; PMCID: PMC4592473. Publisher Link

    Nov. 20, 2025

  • Horvath D, Mink D, Saxena K, Inholz K, Wirtz PH, Basler M. Stress transmission in social groups of mice: unveiling physiological responses, behavioral patterns, and immune dynamics. iScience. 2025 May 27;28(6):112769. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.112769. PMID: 40546941; PMCID: PMC12178794. Publisher Link

    Nov. 6, 2025

  • Gao Y, Kennelly JP, Xiao X, Whang E, Ferrari A, Bedard AH, Mack JJ, Nguyen A, Srikanth S, Weston T, Uchiyama LF, Cohn W, Cho DH, Lee MS, Whitelegge J, Gwack Y, Young SG, Bensinger SJ, Tontonoz P. T cell cholesterol transport links intestinal immune responses to dietary lipid absorption. Science. 2025 Oct 9;390(6769):eadt4169. doi: 10.1126/science.adt4169. Epub 2025 Oct 9. PMID: 41066556. Publisher Link

    Oct. 16, 2025

  • Kumar A, Sundaram K, Mu J, Dryden GW, Sriwastva MK, Lei C, Zhang L, Qiu X, Xu F, Yan J, Zhang X, Park JW, Merchant ML, Bohler HCL, Wang B, Zhang S, Qin C, Xu Z, Han X, McClain CJ, Teng Y, Zhang HG. High-fat diet-induced upregulation of exosomal phosphatidylcholine contributes to insulin resistance. Nat Commun. 2021 Jan 11;12(1):213. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-20500-w. PMID: 33431899; PMCID: PMC7801461. Publisher Link

    Oct. 2, 2025

  • Jones JM, Reinke SN, Mousavi-Derazmahalleh M, Garssen J, Jenmalm MC, Srinivasjois R, Silva D, Keelan J, Prescott SL, Palmer DJ, Christophersen CT. Maternal prebiotic supplementation during pregnancy and lactation modifies the microbiome and short chain fatty acid profile of both mother and infant. Clin Nutr. 2024 Apr;43(4):969-980. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2024.02.030. Epub 2024 Mar 1. PMID: 38452522. Publisher Link

    April 4, 2025

    • Click here for a list of journal club articles.