Author Kai Zou

Former MS student James Tincknell’s thesis work is accepted for publication in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. James’s thesis was focused on the effects of high-intensity interval training on regulatory machinery of mitochondrial quality control in skeletal muscle of obese mice. Former… Continue Reading →

Our paper titled “Partial skeletal muscle-specific Drp1 knockout enhances insulin sensitivity in diet-induced obese mice, but not in lean mice” was published in Molecular Metabolism. demonstrate that partial loss of skeletal muscle-specific Drp1 expression is sufficient to improve whole-body glucose… Continue Reading →

A huge thank you to Nicole for her last year’s dedication to the lab and science. Good luck on your next adventures on the west coast!

Doctoral student Benjamin Kugler successfully defended his dissertation entitled “THE ROLE OF SKELETAL MUSCLE DRP1-MEDIATED MITOCHONDRIAL FISSION IN OBESITY-INDUCED INSULIN RESISTANCE”. Congratulations, Dr. Kugler! So proud of you!!!

Congratulations to doctoral student Benjamin Kugler on winning the prestigious American Physiological Society Virendra B. Mahesh Award of Excellence in Endocrinology and Metabolism. His presentation is entitled “The Loss of Drp1 Improves Skeletal Muscle Insulin Action in Primary Myotubes Derived… Continue Reading →

Our lab was recently awarded a $455,847 grant from the National Institutes of Health for the research project entitled “Targeting Dynamin-related protein 1-mediated mitochondrial fission to correct insulin resistance in obesity”. We have several opening positions available to graduate and… Continue Reading →

Congratulations to doctoral students Benjamin Kugler on winning the Exercise and Health Sciences (EHS) Graduate Student Best Poster Award at the College of Nursing and Health Sciences Virtual Research Day! His poster is entitled “Exercise Attenuates Tumor Growth in an… Continue Reading →

The Zou lab published a paper in Physiological Reports entitled “Pharmacological inhibition of dynamin-related protein 1 attenuates skeletal muscle insulin resistance in obesity”. In this paper, we used a pharmacological inhibitor of Dynamin-Related Protein (Drp1), Mdivi-1, in diet-induced obese mice… Continue Reading →

Lots of good news this month! We have another paper accepted, this time in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise – the leading journal for the American College of Sports Medicine. Congratulations to Benjamin Kugler for his third first-author… Continue Reading →

Doctoral student Benjamin Kugler presented our recent work in “Exercise and Cancer” at the Integrative Physiology of Exercise (IPE) Virtual Meeting. In his poster, Ben presented a study from our research team, in which we found that voluntary exercise slows… Continue Reading →