Eric McGregor
PhD Student in the Anderson Research Group
Reversal of neuronal tau pathology via adiponectin receptor activation
Eric’s project aims to understand the role of adiponectin in regulating neural metabolism at a cellular and tissue level. Adiponectin is the most abundant adipose-derived hormone in circulation. It is known to impact a variety of processes including activating oxidative metabolism.
Importantly, adiponectin receptors are present in high concentrations in multiple cell types and across brain regions. Despite this prevalence, little is understood about adiponectin’s role in the metabolic control of the brain. Eric hypothesizes that by coordinating metabolic changes in neurons and astrocytes, adiponectin signaling creates a more metabolically efficient brain. Using both in vivo and in vitro approaches, he is examining how an adiponectin receptor agonist changes metabolic and neuroinflammatory states and in terms of functional output, the electrical properties of brain.
- Kalman Scholarship – American Federation for Aging Research
- Poster Presentation Award – 53rd Annual American Aging Association Meeting
- Poster Award (Runner-up) –Nutrition and Metabolism Graduate Program Annual Retreat
- Travel Award – FASEB Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Brain Aging
- Symposium Poster Award – International Symposium on Neurobiology of Aging
- Louis and Elsa Thomsen Distinguished Graduate Fellowship – UW-Madison