The image above represents the expertise, skills and passion of our members. They cover a vast array of research areas, from computational genomics to inpatient hyperglycemia prevention, islet biology to vascular therapeutics, stem-cell-based high content screening to adipogenesis, and novel obesity provider platforms to diabetes technologies. By bringing all of these skills and passions into the same conversation, we can make a difference in metabolic disease.
Job Openings
Several postdoctoral positions are available at the Weill Center for Metabolic Health. Detailed information is available here.
Selected publications from center members (2023-25)
(2025)
Aronne LJ et al. Tirzepatide as Compared with Semaglutide for the Treatment of Obesity. N Engl J Med. 2025 Jul 3;393(1):26-36.
Koundouros et al, and Blenis J. Direct sensing of dietary ω-6 linoleic acid through FABP5-mTORC1 signaling. Science 387, eadm9805 (2025).
Prescott et al, Risca VI*, Schwartz RE*, David Y* (*corresponding authors). A nucleosome switch primes hepatitis B virus infection. Cell 188, 1–16 (2025)
Sinha et al, Schwartz, RE. Aging disrupts hepatocyte zonation homeostasis in mice and humans. Hepatology ():10.1097/HEP.0000000000001451, July 4, 2025.
Touhamy et al, Alonso LC, Aronne LJ, Shukla AP. Carbohydrates-Last Food Order Improves Time in Range and Reduces Glycemic Variability. Diabetes Care 2025;48(2):e15–e16
Itkin et al, Redmond D, and Rafii S. Transcriptional activation of regenerative hematopoiesis via microenvironmental sensing. Nat Immunol 26, 378–390 (2025).
Rubinelli et al, Elemento O, Ersoy B, Di Lorenzo A. Suppression of endothelial ceramide de novo biosynthesis by Nogo-B contributes to cardiometabolic diseases. Nat Commun. 16: 1968 (2025)
Craig-Schapiro et al, Zhou Q, Rafii S & Redmond D. Single-cell atlas of human pancreatic islet and acinar endothelial cells in health and diabetes. Nat Commun 16, 1338 (2025).
Breves et al, and Apostolou E. Three-dimensional regulatory hubs support oncogenic programs in glioblastoma. Molecular Cell 85, 1330 - 1348.e6. (2025)
Homan et al and Lo JC. Complement 3a Receptor 1 on Macrophages and Kupffer cells is not required for the Pathogenesis of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease. Elife. 2025 Jan 08;13:RP100708.
Lin et al and Pitt GS. Interneuron FGF13 regulates seizure susceptibility via a sodium channel-independent mechanism. Elife. 2025 Jan 8;13:RP98661.
Li et al, Craig-Schapiro R, Redmond D, and Rafii S. Vascularization of human islets by adaptable endothelium for durable and functional subcutaneous engraftment. Sci. Adv.11, eadq5302 (2025).
Pereira de Lima et al, and Lo JC. C3aR1 on β cells enhances β cell function and survival to maintain glucose homeostasis. Mol Metab. (2025)
(2024)
Aronne LJ, Sattar N, Horn DB, et al. Continued Treatment With Tirzepatide for Maintenance of Weight Reduction in Adults With Obesity: The SURMOUNT-4 Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2024;331;(1):38-48.
Yang et al, Schwartz RE, and Chen S. SARS-CoV-2 infection causes dopaminergic neuron senescence. Cell Stem Cell. 2024 Feb 1;31(2):196-211.e6.
Yang et al., Schwartz RE, and Chen S. Human vascularized macrophage-islet organoids to model immune-mediated pancreatic β cell pyroptosis upon viral infection. Cell Stem Cell. 2024 Aug 30:S1934-5909(24)00293-5.
Murphy et al. and Apostolou E. 3D Enhancer-promoter networks provide predictive features for gene expression and coregulation in early embryonic lineages. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 31, pages 125–140 (2024)
Manzo et al, Elemento O and Di Lorenzo A. Rewiring Endothelial Sphingolipid Metabolism to Favor S1P Over Ceramide Protects From Coronary Atherosclerosis. Circ Res. 2024 Apr 12;134(8):990-1005.
Sinha Gregory N, et al. and DCCT/EDIC Research Group. Diabetes Risk Factors and Bone Microarchitecture as Assessed by High-Resolution Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography in Adults With Long-Standing Type 1 Diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2024;47(9):1548–1558
Matsui et al, McGraw TE, Lo JC & Pitt GS. Multiple beta cell-independent mechanisms drive hypoglycemia in Timothy syndrome. Nat Commun 15, 8980 (2024).
Gu et al, Rafii S, Zhou Q. A MTA2-SATB2 chromatin complex restrains colonic plasticity toward small intestine by retaining HNF4A at colonic chromatin. Nat Commun. 2024 Apr 27;15(1):3595.
Altorki et al, Elemento O, and McGraw TE. A signature of enhanced proliferation associated with response and survival to anti-PD-L1 therapy in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer. Cell Rep Med. 2024 Mar 19;5(3):101438.
Jacquet et al and Maxfield FR. Microglia degrade Alzheimer’s amyloid-beta deposits extracellularly via digestive exophagy. Cell Rep, 43 (12), 115052 (2024)
(2023)
Sun et al. and Greenblatt, M.B. A vertebral skeletal stem cell lineage driving metastasis. Nature 621, 602–609 (2023)
Luo et al and Huangfu D*, Beer MA* (*corresponding authors). Dynamic network-guided CRISPRi screen identifies CTCF-loop-constrained nonlinear enhancer gene regulatory activity during cell state transitions. Nat Genet. 55(8):1336-1346 (2023)
Rubio-Navarro et al. and Lo, J.C. A beta cell subset with enhanced insulin secretion and glucose metabolism is reduced in type 2 diabetes. Nat Cell Biol 25, 565–578 (2023).
Tang et al. and Chen, S. A multi-organoid platform identifies CIART as a key factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Nat Cell Biol 25, 381–389 (2023).
Stamateris et al., Sharma RB, Redmond D, Alonso LC. Noncanonical CDK4 signaling rescues diabetes in a mouse model by promoting β cell differentiation. J Clin Invest. 133(18):e166490 (2023)
Altorki et al, Elemento O, McGraw TE. Neoadjuvant durvalumab plus radiation versus durvalumab alone in stages I-III non-small cell lung cancer: survival outcomes and molecular correlates of a randomized phase II trial. Nat Commun. 2023 Dec 19;14(1):8435.
Chong et al. Hao M, and Chen S. Checkpoint kinase 2 controls insulin secretion and glucose homeostasis. Nat Chem Biol. 2023 Nov 9. PMID: 37945898.
Sasset et al. and Di Lorenzo, A. Nogo-A reduces ceramide de novo biosynthesis to protect from heart failure. Cardiovasc Res 119(2):506-519 (2023)
Upcoming center seminars
Upcoming seminars
We look forward to our 2025-26 seminars.
Past seminars
March 3, 2025 - Liming Pei, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. "Mechanistic understanding of heart disease associated metabolic complications." 2:00-3:00pm, Belfer 204.
February 3, 2025 - Mary-Elizabeth Patti, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School. "Intestinal Regulation of Postprandial Glucose Metabolism: Novel Insights from Patients with Hypoglycemia." 2:00-3:00pm, Belfer 204.
January 13, 2025 - Meng Wang, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University. "Novel metabolic toxicities caused by endogenous formaldehyde." 2:00-3:00pm, Belfer 204.
December 9, 2024 - Gerald I. Shulman, M.D., Ph.D. George R. Cowgill Professor of Medicine and Cellular & Molecular Physiology, Yale University. "Targeting liver mitochondrial to treat MASLD/MASH and cardiometabolic disease." 2:00-3:00pm, Belfer 204.
October 21, 2024 - Alan D. Attie, Ph.D. Jack Gorski Professor of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Mouse Genetics of Metabolic Disease." 2:00-3:00pm, Belfer 302.
September 23, 2024 - Doris A. Stoffers, M.D., Ph.D. Sylvan H. Eisman Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. "Pancreatic beta cell adaptation to metabolic stress." 2:00-3:00pm, Belfer 204.
May 13, 2024 - Eileen White, PhD, Deputy Director, Chief Scientific Officer, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Board of Governors Professor, Rutgers. "Autophagy and Cancer Metabolism." 2:00-3:00pm, Belfer 302
April 8, 2024 - Joeva Barrow Ph.D., R.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University. "Targeting the NST Silencer AQP1 for the Treatment of Metabolic Disease." 2:00-3:00pm, Belfer 302
March 25, 2024 - Alan Saltiel, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Director at UC San Diego Institute for Diabetes and Metabolic Health. "Regulation of energy homeostasis in metabolism." 2:00-3:00pm, Belfer 302
December 11, 2023 - Shingo Kajimura, PhD, HHMI Investigator and Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism at Harvard Medical School, “UCP1-independent mechanisms controlling energy balance” 2:00-3:00pm, Belfer 302
November 13, 2023 - John Kirwan, PhD, Executive Director and George A. Bray, Jr. Endowed Super Chair in Nutrition, Pennington Biomedical Research Center. "Metabolic Diseases – Solutions from Cells to Society" 2:00-3:00pm, Belfer 302
May 10, 2023 - Ira Goldberg, MD, Director, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Clarissa and Edgar Bronfman, Jr. Professor of Endocrinology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine. “Postprandial lipemia, chylomicrons, and CVD” 2:00-3:00pm, Belfer 302
February 8, 2023 - Joseph T Bass, MD, PhD, Director, Center for Diabetes and Metabolism, Northwestern University. "The Circadian Basis for Bioenergetics in Meal Timing and Metabolism" 2:00-3:00pm, Belfer 204
December 14, 2022 - Guy Rutter, PhD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Montreal, Professor of Cell Biology at Imperial College London, and Wellcome Trust Investigator. “Pancreatic β cell heterogeneity and its role in diabetes” 2:00-3:00pm, Belfer 302
November 9, 2022 - Utpal Pajvani, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Columbia University. “Metabolic and neoplastic consequences of reactivated developmental signaling pathways in obesity” 2:00-3:00pm, Belfer 302
October 12, 2022 - Andrew Stewart, MD, Director of Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “Human Beta Cell Regeneration for Diabetes: A Journey from Impossible to Possible” 2:00-3:00pm, Belfer 302
September 28, 2022 - Michelle Rengarajan, MD, PhD, Instructor in Endocrinology at Harvard Medical School and MGH. “Dissecting the cellular basis of autoimmune endocrinopathies”
September 14, 2022 - Tracy G. Anthony, PhD, Professor of Nutritional Sciences, Rutgers. “Amino acid insufficiency in health and disease”
May 25, 2022 - Stuart Weisberg, M.D, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University. "Obesity primes human pancreas for inflammation via macrophage-T cell cross talk"
April 27, 2022 - Stephanie Correa, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Integrative Biology & Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles. "Integration of reproductive and metabolic cues by neural circuits that control energy balance"
April 13, 2022 - Jeffrey Pessin, Ph.D., Judy R. & Alfred A. Rosenberg Professorial Chair in Diabetes Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "Temporal and spatial cellular heterogeneity of hepatocyte metabolic gene expression"
March 30, 2022 - Jeffrey R. Millman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering, Washington University School of Medicine. "Enginneering islets from stem cells for diabetes cell replacement therapy"
March 2, 2022 - Susan K. Fried, Ph.D., Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "Fat Distribution and Metabolic Health in Women and Men"
February 23, 2022 - Merly Vogt, Ph.D., Research Specialist, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University. "Insulin/IGF-1R signaling plays multiple roles in metabolic programming of future generations"
January 26, 2022 - Daniel Vatner, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine. "Role of the lipogenic master regulator in insulin resistant subjects"
January 12, 2022 - Rebecca A. Haeusler, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pathology & Cell Biology, Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center, Columbia University Medical Center. "Inter-organ crosstalk by lipoproteins and bile acids in cardiometabolic disease"
December 8, 2021 - Seung Kim, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Director, Stanford Diabetes Research Center. "The actual and the possible: islet replacement strategies for diabetes mellitus"
November 17, 2021 - Richard Kibbey, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine. "How beta-cells work: Lessons from the Ox and Caterpillar"
October 27, 2021 - Sona Kang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Nutritional Sciences & Toxicology, University of California, Berkeley. "DNA methylation machinery in adipose biology"
October 15, 2021 - Sander Kersten, Ph.D., Professor in Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics, Chair Division of Human Nutrition & Health, Wageningen University, the Netherlands. "Plasma triglyceride metabolism and diabetes"
September 22, 2021 - Keynote lecture at Center Kickoff. Domenico Accili, M.D., Russell Berrie Foundation Professor of Diabetes in Medicine, Chief of Endocrinology Division, Director of Diabetes Research Center, Columbia University, 2017 Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement, American Diabetes Association. "The ABCC of beta cell failure in diabetes"