Research in the Czech Lab at UMass Chan Medical School
The central interest of our lab are genes and their protein products that control metabolic health and are potential therapeutic targets for obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Major diseases such as type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis are promoted by dysfunctions in adipose tissue and in the interactions between adipocytes, endothelial cells, nerve fibers and immune cells. Adipose tissue remodeling in obesity can also secondarily disrupt liver and skeletal muscle metabolism, causing systemic insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. Likewise, excess liver fat and muscle dysfunctions in obesity disrupt overall metabolic balance and communication. Our laboratory group is attacking key questions related to these cellular and molecular interactions among metabolic tissues, macrophages, neuronal signals and the vasculature that define both normal and metabolic disease states.
