URAP

Amy Joy - Professor, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 3-5 hrs     Location: Off Campus

This project researches current topics in nutrition and health for my undergraduate class ("Eating Green: The science behind the grassroots food movement"). My class is a small-group class that uses a discussion format to cover a range of controversial questions (eg. Are organic foods better?). Currently teaching this class...

Sona Kang - Professor, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: On Campus

DNA methylation is a reversible epigenetic mark involving the covalent transfer of a methyl group to the C-5 position of a cytosine residue and is mediated by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs). DNMT1 maintains DNA methylation patterns during DNA replication, while DNMT3A and DNMT3B are involved in establishing de novo patterns...

Susana Matias - Cooperative Extension Specialist, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: Off Campus

The focus of this project is to assess the uptake and impact of a produce prescription program, implemented by a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Yolo County. We will measure the effectiveness of the program to improve food security, fruit and vegetable consumption, and weight and diabetes indicators among...

David Moore - Professor, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: On Campus

The Liver Receptor Homolog-1 (LRH-1) is an orphaned nuclear receptor (a family of protein transcription factors that regulate gene expression in the cell). Nuclear receptors contain a physical pocket known as the ligand binding domain (LBD) that is capable of binding and sensing various compounds. LRH-1&#039...

David Moore - Professor, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology

Status: Check back for status     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: On Campus

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) form a subset of nuclear receptors, currently comprising three distinct members: PPARα, PPARγ, and PPARδ. Each receptor seems to influence pathways situated at the crossroads of intermediary metabolism and inflammation, imparting significant physiological and clinical relevance to them (Bensinger and Tontonoz, 2008). PPARα, a well...

David Moore - Professor, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology

Status: Check back for status     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: On Campus

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an autoimmune inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract. Statistics show that the incidence of IBD in the US is around 1.3% in the adult population. The pathophysiology of IBD is multifaceted and complex, with current therapeutics requiring optimization. Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and experimental...

David Moore - Professor, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology

Status: Check back for status     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: On Campus

Bile acids (BA), the amphipathic and water-soluble end-products of cholesterol metabolism, are essential for the emulsification and subsequent absorption of dietary lipids and fat-soluble vitamins. BA are synthesized by the liver, stored in the gallbladder, and secreted into the lumen of the small intestine to solubilize lipids...

Veerle Rottiers - Professor, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 12 or more hours     Location: On Campus

Aging is a process of maturation and decline that affects all organisms. Understanding the conserved mechanisms of aging could lead to new strategies for the prevention of age-associated disease. Sex specific differences in longevity occur throughout the animal kingdom, including in humans. Those differences are proposed to be caused...

Veerle Rottiers - Professor, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     

Aging affects all organisms. Understanding the conserved mechanisms of aging could lead to new strategies for the prevention and treatment of age-associated disease. C. elegans, a small roundworm, is one of the most widely used model organisms to study aging. Worms live for about 3 weeks making it practical...

Denis Titov - Assistant Adjunct Professor, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology

Status: Check back for status     Weekly Hours: 12 or more hours     Location: On Campus

ATP powers most energy-consuming reactions in cells. While ATP has a short half-life, the demand for ATP also fluctuates. Thus, ATP or energy homeostasis in cells needs to be appropriately regulated. ATP homeostasis has to perform at least three tasks: allow energy generation from ATP hydrolysis, maintain stable...

Denis Titov - Assistant Adjunct Professor, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 12 or more hours     Location: On Campus

A distinct metabolic phenotype in cancers is the alteration of glucose metabolism. In general, most cells in the body derive their ATP from respiration. However, most cancer cells generate a substantial fraction of their ATP through glycolysis thereby converting their glucose to lactate and exhibit lower respiration activity. The ability...

Denis Titov - Assistant Adjunct Professor, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 12 or more hours     Location: On Campus

Aging is the greatest risk factor for numerous chronic conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegeneration. Once thought to be an uncontrollable stochastic process due to an accumulation of damage over time, genes and regulatory networks have been discovered that modulate the rate of aging. Supported by data in...