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| Name |
Mangelsdorf, David J. |
| Location
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The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center |
| Primary Field
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Medical Physiology and Metabolism |
 Election Citation
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Mangelsdorf's work on nuclear receptors led to landmark discoveries of how regulatory pathways govern cholesterol and bile acid homeostasis. He defined crucial signal-transduction networks in their entirety by identifying the ligands, target genes, physiological functions, and molecular mechanisms for orphan nuclear receptors.
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Research Interests
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Dr. Mangelsdorf runs a joint laboratory with his long-time collaborator, Dr. Steven Kliewer. Their lab has discovered several therapeutic targets that are being developed to treat diverse diseases such as cholestasis, obesity, diabetes, fatty liver disease, pancreatitis and nematode parasitism. Current research focuses on understanding the molecular and physiologic components of two endocrine factors, FGF19 and FGF21, which respectively play distinct roles in enterohepatic control of bile acid physiology and neuroendocrine control of nutrient stresses, such as starvation, unbalanced macronutrient diets, and alcohol. Following their discovery of the hormonal ligands and signaling pathway for the C. elegans nuclear receptor, DAF-12, they have shown this pathway is conserved in parasitic nematodes and is the key step in governing parasite infection. Their current research is directed at investigating the therapeutic potential of targeting this pathway.
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