Welcome to the Bridges Lab

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.

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Positions Available

Laboratory Assistant

Education: We are looking for a student pursuing a degree in life sciences, ideally with a background in nutrition, biochemistry, physiology or molecular biology. An interest in biomedical research and understanding the mechanisms of disease is an asset. Underclassmen and/or those available to work over the summer are welcome to apply.
Qualifications: The most successful students in this position can work well both individually and in teams, are good problem solvers and are reliable team members. Demonstration of strong organizational skills is important.
Responsibilities: The laboratory assistant will initially assist in handling and genotyping laboratory animals, helping with miscellaneous laboratory tasks and helping with data entry. Typically, as these skills are learned, and if there is interest, students could have the opportunity to develop their own research projects. We would like the individual to be able to work a minimum of 20h/week over the summer and then 10h/week during the school year, with substantial flexibility in terms of hours. Larger blocks of available time per day are preferred.

Recent Publications

Nora Urraca, Kevin Hope, A. Victor, T. Grant Belgard, Rawaha Memon, Sarita Goorha, Colleen Valdez, Quynh Tran, Silva Sanchez, Juanma Ramirez, Martin Donaldson, Dave Bridges and Lawrence Reiter. Significant transcriptional changes in 15q duplication but not Angelman syndrome deletion stem cell-derived neurons 2018. Molecular Autism 9(6): Full Text Details.

Innocence Harvey, Erin Stephenson, JeAnna Redd, Quynh Tran, Irit Hochberg, Nathan Qi and Dave Bridges. Glucocorticoid-Induced Metabolic Disturbances are Exacerbated in Obesity 2017. bioRxiv Full Text Details. Preprint

Michael Keufner, Kevin Pham, JeAnna Redd, Erin Stephenson, Innocence Harvey, Xiong Deng, Dave Bridges, Eric Boilard, Marshal Elam and Edwards Park. Secretory phospholipase A2 group IIA (PLA2G2A) modulates insulin sensitivity and metabolism. 2017. Journal of Lipid Research Full Text Details.

Suriyan Ponnusamy, Ryan Sullivan, Dahui You, Nadeem Zafar, Chuan He Yang, Thirumagal Thiyagarajan, Daniel Johnson, Maron Barrett, Nikki Koehler, Mayra Star, Erin Stephenson, Dave Bridges, Stephania Cormier, Lawrence Pfeffer and Ramesh Narayanan. Androgen Receptor Agonists Increase Lean Mass, Improve Cardiopulmonary Functions, and Extend Survival in Preclinical Models of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy 2017. Human Molecular Genetics Full Text Details.

Dave Bridges Weight loss effects of Methotrexate and Cyclophosphamide. 2017. Oncotarget 8(3):5640 Full Text Details.

Suriyan Ponnusamy, Quynh Tran, Thirumagal Thiyagarajan, Duane Miller, Dave Bridges and Ramesh Narayanan. An Estrogen Receptor b-Selective Agonist Inhibits Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) in Preclinical Models by Regulating Bile Acid and Xenobiotic Receptors 2017. Experimental Biology and Medicine 242(6):606-616 Full Text Details.

Suriyan Ponnusamy, Quynh Tran, Innocence Harvey, Heather Smallwood, Thirumagal Thiyagarajan, Souvik Banerjee, Daniel Johnson, James Dalton, Ryan Sullivan, Duane Miller, Dave Bridges and Ramesh Narayanan. Pharmacologic activation of estrogen receptor-beta; increases mitochondrial function, energy expenditure, and brown adipose tissue. 2017. FASEB Journal 31(1):266-281 Full Text Details.

Alysse Charrier, Li Wang, Erin Stephenson, Siddharth Gantha, Chih-wei Ko, Colleen Croninger, Dave Bridges and David Buchner. Zinc finger protein 407 overexpression upregulates PPAR-target gene expression and improves glucose homeostasis in mice. 2016. American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism 311(5):E869-E880 Full Text Details.

Erin Stephenson, Sridhar Jaligama, Alyse Ragauskas, JeAnna Redd, Jyothi Parvathareddy, Matthew Peloquin, Jordy Saravia, Joan Han, Stephania Cormier and Dave Bridges. Exposure to environmentally persistent free radicals during gestation lowers energy expenditure and impairs skeletal muscle mitochondrial function in 2016. American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology And Metabolism 310(11):E1003-E1015 Full Text Details.

Daniel Klionsky Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition). 2016. Autophagy 12(1):1-222 Full Text Details.

Journal Club Papers

Hudgins, L. C. et al. Young, healthy South Asians have enhanced lipogenic sensitivity to dietary sugar. Clin. Endocrinol. (Oxf). 86, 361–366 (2017). 10.1111/cen.13293

Cameron, M., Camic, C. L., Doberstein, S., Erickson, J. L. & Jagim, A. R. The acute effects of a multi-ingredient pre-workout supplement on resting energy expenditure and exercise performance in recreationally active females. J. Int. Soc. Sports Nutr. 15, 1 (2018). 10.1186/s12970-017-0206-7

Lin, Y., Zhuo, Y., Fang, Z. F., Che, L. Q. & Wu, D. Effect of maternal dietary energy types on placenta nutrient transporter gene expressions and intrauterine fetal growth in rats. Nutrition 28, 1037–1043 (2012). 10.1016/j.nut.2012.01.002

Benson, T. W. et al. A single high-fat meal provokes pathological erythrocyte remodeling and increases myeloperoxidase levels: implications for acute coronary syndrome. Lab. Invest. (2018). doi:10.1038/s41374-018-0038-3 10.1038/s41374-018-0038-3

Shariatpanahi, Z. V., Shariatpanahi, M. V., Shahbazi, S., Hossaini, A. & Abadi, A. Effect of Ramadan fasting on some indices of insulin resistance and components of the metabolic syndrome in healthy male adults. Br. J. Nutr. 100, 147–151 (2008). 10.1017/S000711450787231X

Welcome to the Bridges Lab

Recent Publications

Journal Club Papers

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