The goal of the NextGen Cardiovascular, Muscle & Metabolism Science Seminar is to highlight transdisciplinary precision research taking place in cardiovascular, muscle and metabolism fields; provide opportunities for collaboration among researchers to build their own research efforts; and promote clinical/researcher activity across the University of Missouri System and our partners.

For questions about this event, please reach out to Mackenzie Lynch.

"Apples, Pears, and Salmon? Measuring and Improving Metabolic Health in People with Obesity"

Speaker: Max Petersen, M.D., Ph.D.
Instructor, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Lipid Research
Washington University School of Medicine

Date: Oct. 14, 2024, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Location: Tom and Linda Atkins Family Seminar Room, Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health building

Description

There is marked heterogeneity in the metabolic abnormalities associated with obesity. “Metabolically healthy obesity” (MHO) is a controversial entity because of conflicting definitions and a lack of clear cellular and physiological understanding of what features determine the metabolic response to obesity. Dr. Petersen’s recent work has sought to understand potential mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of MHO, determining multi-organ physiological differences in people who were rigorously defined as metabolically healthy lean (MHL), metabolically healthy obese (MHO), and metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO), and assessing several putative cellular and systemic mechanisms that differentiate MHO from MUO.

About the Speaker

Originally from the Chicago area, Dr. Petersen studied biochemistry and religion at Augustana College. He completed his MD and PhD at Yale; his graduate work investigated mechanisms of lipid-induced hepatic insulin resistance. He completed his internal medicine residency in the physician-scientist pathway at Massachusetts General Hospital and fellowship training in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Lipid Research at Washington University in St. Louis, mentored by Samuel Klein. He joined the faculty in July 2023 and continues to study the relationship between obesity and insulin resistance, as well as the role of different dietary interventions in the treatment of metabolic diseases.