Dustin S. Hittel
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Dustin S. Hittel, Ph.D.
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POSITION
EDUCATION
SPECIALTY
CURRENT WORK
DESIRED OUTCOME
PUBLICATIONS
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology
| 2002- 2006 | Research Associate, Children's National Medical Center, Washington DC |
| 2001 | Ph.D., Molecular Physiology, Carleton University, Ottawa |
| 1998 | M.Sc., Molecular and Microbial Physiology, University of Calgary |
| 1998 | B.Sc., Molecular Cellular and Microbial Biology, University of Calgary |
The use of current & emerging molecular profiling techniques to investigate the role of skeletal muscle in the pathophysiological progression of obesity to type 2 diabetes. We also study the contribution of skeletal muscle to improvements in cardiovascular risk factors associated with obesity after exercise, dietary and pharmacological interventions.
CURRENT WORK
We are interested in the loss of metabolic flexibility and other maladaptive changes in skeletal muscle which are associated with the progression of obesity to full blown type 2 diabetes. Our investigations make use of DNA microarrays, proteomic and metabolic profiling techniques to interrogate skeletal muscle and extensive post hoc bioinformatics analysis to meaningfully interpret and validate these data sets. When available, we utilize clinical muscle samples obtained from ongoing exercise, weight loss and pharmacological intervention studies. We also employ a well characterized cell culture model of obesity in which defects in fatty acid oxidation and altered lipid partitioning (which closely parallels insulin resistance) are preserved in primary cultured muscle cells from obese individuals. The long term goal of this study is to identify the biological mechanism by which these acquired or innate defects in metabolism are governed. In the not so distant future we would like to expand our investigative skills set to include gene knock out animal models, and the use of microarays to functionally correlate variations in the human genome (SNPs and CNVs) with well-defined diagnostic indicators of human fitness and health.
DESIRED OUTCOME
Obesity and its associated disease states have been described as the leading public health issue of our generation. Of particular concern is the alarming rise in pediatric obesity rates, which seriously threatens the long term health and well being of our youth. The desired outcomes of our research are to better understand the innate or acquired metabolic defects associated with obesity so that we can: A) Make informed recommendations for appropriate preventative and therapeutic intervention strategies and B) To identify novel genetic or circulating biomarkers which would allow us to identify those individuals who would most benefit from early intervention.
PUBLICATIONS
To view Dustin S. Hittel's publications please see his Curriculum Vitae (PDF format)