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The MCoE is led by a rotating director that will hold that position for a two-year term. The current Director is , Associate Professor in the Biomedical Sciences Program. The Center is divided into four divisions, each with a division lead who oversees division-relevant activities. All MWU faculty are welcome to access Center divisions with assistance from Center leadership and staff. 

• Analytics and Biostatistics
• Cell and Organoid Modeling
• Clinical Metabolism
• Preclinical Metabolic Phenotyping

In addition to each of these scientific divisions, the MCoE provides members with access to state-of-the-art scientific equipment as well as experimental and analytical support. 

Goals

1. Help MCoE members successfully compete for extramural grants
2. Establish cross-campus collaborations between metabolism-focused researchers
3. Obtain and maintain state-of-the-art metabolic phenotyping equipment
4. Publish impactful research in respected and well-cited journals 

This Division provides analytical and statistical support to investigators involved in metabolic research. Assistance may be provided on general biostatistics in GraphPad Prism or R Studio, gut microbiota composition analyses, metabolomics and RNA sequencing analyses. 

Division lead: | kmarti2@midwestern.edu  

This Division will assist investigators in developing in vitro and ex vivo 3D interfaces using organoid models and primary cultures for studying mechanisms underlying critical physiological processes including macronutrient transport, cellular bioenergetics, epithelial integrity, and metabolic reprogramming.

Division lead: | ssunda@midwestern.edu 

Support offered by the Clinical Metabolism Division includes assistance in both study design and the preparation of Clinical IRB applications. This Division expands our abilities for running intervention trials with human participants and facilitates increased research aimed at translating work from bench to bedside.

Division lead: | arosen@midwestern.edu 

Expertise offered by this Division includes assisting in the measurement of tissue macronutrient absorption and incorporation into tissues, measurement of macronutrient transport and utilization across tissues, and comprehensive metabolic phenotyping of animals in vivo.

Division lead: | esteph@midwestern.edu 

Metabolic research themes at MWU are diverse and span multiple departments and colleges. In the College of Graduate Sciences (CGS) and the College of Health Sciences (CHS), experts conduct research focused on gut and liver metabolism, gut-to-brain neurotransmission, muscle and adipose metabolism, cancer metabolism, brain and behavior, hormones, toxicology, nutrition, and exercise. Many of our investigators came to MWU having received training at world renowned research institutions and bring with them expertise in several cutting-edge techniques that range from profiling organelles and signaling pathways, to interrogating metabolic perturbations across organ systems in vivo, to conducting clinical intervention studies. Each investigator’s unique skill-set and specialized training background combine to strengthen our ability to perform meaningful research that contributes to the collective knowledge base to drive therapeutic advances. 

To achieve membership, prospective members are required to submit their latest NIH Biosketch and justification for membership and are expected to meet the following requirements to remain an active member:

1. Attend at least 6 MCoE meetings per year.
2. Demonstrate authorship on at least one published paper per year.
3. Submit at least one external grant per year or maintain at least $10K in active extramural funds.

Membership inquiries should be directed to the MCoE Director or Division Leads. 

Alzheimer’s Association | Sex and Gender in Alzheimer’s Award Program

• Title: Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis in mothers: a role for age and menopause
• Investigator(s): Alesia Prakapenka (PI)

NIH National Institutes of Aging | R21 AG072561-01

• Title: Targeting Whole-body Fatty Acid Metabolism in Alzheimer’s Disease, with Special Interest in Lauric Acid
• Investigator(s): Haiwei Gu (PI) and Garilyn Jentarra (Co-PI) | Note: Dr. Gu is faculty at Arizona State University

NIH NIDDK | 5 R21 DK129890-02

• Title: The role of the gut mycobiome in regulating host lipid absorption and obesity
• Investigator(s): Kristina Martinez-Guryn (PI) and Sinju Sundaresan (Co-I)

NIH NIDDK | R01

• Title: Probing short and long term consequences of Small and Large
  Bowel Microbiota Transplants on Host Physiology: Implications for the development of future live biotherapeutics
• Investigator(s): Kristina Martinez-Guryn (MPI)

Recent press releases or podcasts involving MCoE members.

2025

• Society, E. (2025, July 10). Synthetic estrogen associated with increased anxiety-like behaviors in a rat model. Endocrine Society.
• Neuroscience News (2025, June 9). Gut Microbiota Transplants May Cause Long-Term Imbalance.
• Technology Networks (2025, June 9). Rethinking Fecal Transplants for Better Gut Health.
• The Microbiologist (2025, June 6). Fecal transplants: Promising treatment or potential health risk?
• The University of Chicago (2025, June 6). Fecal transplants: Promising treatment or potential health risk?

2024

• Flynn, H. (2024, June 7). Synthetic estrogens used in birth control pills linked to anxiety in rats. Medicalnewstoday.com; Medical News Today.
• News, N. (2024, June 2). Synthetic Estrogen in Birth Control Linked to Anxiety. Neuroscience News.  

2023

• Dr. Sinju Sundaresan's interview featured on the NPR article: Doucleff, M. (2023, October 30). Less snacking, more satisfaction: Some foods boost levels of an Ozempic-like hormone.  

Kristina Martinez-Guryn, Ph.D., RD

• FASEB Conference: “Intestinal Lipid Metabolism in Health and Disease,” Steamboat Springs, CO, June 25-30th, 2023
• Digestive Diseases Week 2023, Chicago, IL., Speaker and Moderator
• International Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics, Barcelona, Spain, June 2022
• University of Chicago, GI Research Conference Series, September 2022

Isabel Martinez-Pena y Valenzuela, Ph.D.

• “α-dystrobrevin and α-syntrophin in the Maintenance of the Postsynaptic Apparatus of the Neuromuscular Synapse”. Invited seminar at Carver College of Medicine, The University of Iowa, (November 15th, 2022). Speaker.

Erin Stephenson, Ph.D.

• Obesity Week: Annual proceedings of The Obesity Society, “Exogenous Mitochondrial Transfer Increases Resting Energy Expenditure and Attenuates Obesity in Mice”, October 15, 2023

Sinju Sundaresan, Ph.D.

• Digestive Disease Week 2025, “Intestinal Enteric Neurons are required for Luminal Nutrient Sensing and vagal afferent neurotransmission and are dysregulated in Diet-Induced Obesity”, San Diego, CA, May 3-6, 2025
• Digestive Disease Week 2024, “Mitochondrial oxidation of the carbohydrate fuel robustly enhances stemness of older and geriatric human and mouse Intestinal Stem Cells via reprogramming cellular metabolic preference”, Washington, D.C. May 18-21, 2024
• Digestive Disease Week 2023, “Inhibition of Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Kinase 4 Enhances Stemness of Geriatric Intestinal Stem Cells by Increasing Mitochondrial Oxygen Consumption Rate and ATP Production”, Chicago, IL, May 6-9, 2023
• Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Integrated Seminar Series, “Intestinal Enteric Neurons in regulation of nutrient sensing along the gut-brain axis), September, 2022

Alesia Prakapenka, Ph.D.

• Alzheimer’s disease and maternal age at first birth on cognitive and behavioral health in female mice. WINURE Seminar/Biology Graduate Seminar/Neuroscience Graduate Seminar. Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, March 21, 2025 (oral presentation).
• Understanding the impact of hormone treatments on behavioral health in female rodent models. Neuroendocrinology from Molecules to Behavior Graduate Seminar. Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, March 21, 2025 (oral presentation).
• Translationally relevant shifts in hormone states modulate cognitive and behavioral health in female rodents. Chicago Branch of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science General Meeting. ��ɫ��Ƶ, Downers Grove, IL May 12, 2025 (oral presentation).

2025

• DeLeon O, Mocanu M, Tan A, Sidebottom AM, Koval J, Ceccato HD, Kralicek S, Colgan JJ, St George MM, Lake JM, Cooper M, Xu J, Moore J, Su Q, Xu Z, Ng SC, Chan FKL, Tun HM, Cham CM, Liu CY, Rubin DT, Martinez-Guryn K*, Chang EB*. Microbiome mismatches from microbiota transplants lead to persistent off-target metabolic and immunomodulatory effects. Cell. 2025 May 30:S0092-8674(25)00564-1. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.05.014. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40482640. *Co-Corresponding author.
• Nikolla E, Grandberry A, Jamerson D, Flynn CR, Sundaresan S. The Enteric Neuronal Circuitry: A Key Ignored Player in Nutrient Sensing Along the Gut-Brain Axis. FASEB J. 2025 May 15;39(9):e70586. doi: 10.1096/fj.202500220RR. (PMID: 40318068).
• Grandberry A, Rajesh N, Murphy R, Sundaresan S. Diet-Induced Obesity Blunts Sensitivity of Intestinal Enteric Neurons: FIRST Evidence of Modulation of Activity of Enteric Neurons by Luminal Nutrients. FASEB J. 2025 May 15;39(9):e70584. doi: 10.1096/fj.202500069R. (PMID: 40317778).
• Leacy JK, Burns DP, Jendzjowsky NG, Braun C, Herrington BA, Wilson RJ, Vermeulen TD, Foster GE, Rosenberg AJ, Anderson GK, Rickards CA, Lucking EF, O'Halloran KD, Day TA. Characterising the protective vasodilatory effects of hypobaric hypoxia on the neurovascular coupling response. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2025 Mar 13:271678X251322348. doi: 10.1177/0271678X251322348. (PMID: 40079563).
• Russell G, Alegoz R, Hester K, Sierzega KL, Szul MJ, Hubert N, Rylander T, Jensen S, Ciancio MJ, Martinez-Guryn K, Evans C.C. The Microbiome of an Outpatient Sports Medicine Clinic During a Global Pandemic: Effects of Implementation of a Microbiome-Specific Cleaning Program. Microorganisms 2025, 13, 737. .
• Rosenberg AJ, Fernandez A, Moody AW, Sprick JD. Remote ischemic preconditioning attenuates ischemia-reperfusion injury-induced reductions in vascular function through release of endogenous opioids. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2025 Feb 1;138(2):571-576. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00913.2024. (PMID: 39819103).

2024

• Pitstick L, Goral J, Ciancio MJ, Meyer A, Pytynia M, Bychek S, Zidan S, Shuey J, Jham BC, Green JM. Effects of folate deficiency and sex on carcinogenesis in a mouse model of oral cancer. Oral Dis. 2024 May;30(4):1989-2003. doi: 10.1111/odi.14728. Epub 2023 Sep 20. PMID: 37731277.
• Sangalli L, Prakapenka AV, Chaurasia A, Miller CS. A review of animal models for burning mouth syndrome: Mechanistic insights and knowledge gaps. Oral Dis. 2024 Sep;30(6):3761-3770. doi: 10.1111/odi.14914. Epub 2024 Mar 4. PMID: 38438317.

2023

• Namwanje M, Mazumdar S, Stayton A, Patel PS, Watkins C, White C, Brown C, Eason JD, Mozhui K, Kuscu C, Pabla N, Stephenson EJ (co-corresponding), Bajwa A (co-corresponding). Exogenous mitochondrial transfer increases energy expenditure and attenuates adiposity gains in mice with diet-induced obesity. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 Dec 23:2023.12.23.573206. doi: 10.1101/2023.12.23.573206. PMID: 38187751; PMCID: PMC10769436.
• Stephenson EJ, Kinney CE, Stayton AS, Han JC. Early life energy expenditure deficits drive obesity in a mouse model of Alström syndrome, Obesity (Silver Spring). 2023 Nov;31(11):2786-2798. doi: 10.1002/oby.23877. Epub 2023 Sep 15. PMID: 37712194.
• Sundaresan S, Johnson C, Dixon KB, Dole M, Kilkelly D, Antoun J, Flynn CR, Abumrad NN, Tamboli RA. Intraduodenal nutrient infusion differentially alters intestinal nutrient sensing, appetite, and satiety responses in lean and obese subjects. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2023 Sep;118(3):646-656. doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.06.011. Epub 2023 Aug 8. PMID: 37661107; PMCID: PMC10517208.
• Duan S, Sheriff S, Elvis-Offiah UB, Sawyer TW, Sundaresan S, Grembecka J, Merchant JL. Clinically defined mutations in MEN1 alter its tumor-suppressive function through increased menin turnover” Cancer Res Communication. 2023 Jul 24;3(7):1318-1334. PMID: 37492626.
• Brigando G, Sutton C, Uebelhor O, Pitsoulakis N, Pytynia M, Dillon T, Elliott-Burke T, Hubert N, Martinez-Guryn K, Bolch C, Ciancio MJ, Evans CC. The microbiome of an outpatient rehabilitation clinic and predictors of contamination: A pilot study. PLoS One. 2023 May 4;18(5):e0281299. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281299. PMID: 37141300; PMCID: PMC10159339.
• Alia A, Gao F, Mitchell JC, Gasiorowski J, Ciancio M, Kuppast B, Pfeifer C, Carrilho MR. Dentin primer based on a highly functionalized gelatin-methacryloyl hydrogel. Dent Mater. 2023 Feb;39(2):192-203. doi: 10.1016/j.dental.2022.12.005. Epub 2023 Jan 12. PMID: 36641338; PMCID: PMC11391902.
• Evans L, Shock T, Hubert N, Shen Y, Athukorala M, Martinez-Guryn K, and Bradley S Ferguson. 2023. Emodin inhibited hypertension-induced cardiac hypertrophy and altered the gut microbiome. Biomolecules. Accepted.

2022

• Stephenson EJ. Sex is an important moderator of metabolism, In: Miguel-Aliaga I, Vunjak-Novakovic G, Stephenson EJ, Gachon F, Milagre I, Mills E, Rubin JB, Kelava I. Voicing the need to consider sex-specific differences in research. Dev Cell. 2022 Dec 19;57(24):2675-2678. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2022.11.018. PMID: 36538892.
• Stephenson EJ, Stayton AS, Sethuraman A, Rao PK, Meyer A, Gomes CK, Mulcahy MC, McAllan L, Puchowicz MA, Pierre JF, Bridges D, Han JC. Chronic intake of high dietary sucrose induces sexually dimorphic metabolic adaptations in mouse liver and adipose tissue, Nat Commun. 2022 Oct 13;13(1):6062. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-33840-6. PMID: 3622945.
• Flynn CR, Tamboli RA, Antoun J, Sidani RM, Williams B, Spann MD, English WJ, Welch EB, Sundaresan S (co-corresponding), Abumrad NN (co-corresponding). Caloric Restriction and Weight Loss Are Primary Factors in the Early Tissue-Specific Metabolic Changes After Bariatric Surgery. Diabetes Care. 2022 Aug 1;45(8):1914-1916. doi: 10.2337/dc22-0069. PMID: 35724307.
• Martinez-Pena y Valenzuela I, Chen PJ, Barden J, Kosloski O, Akaaboune M. Distinct roles of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex: α-dystrobrevin and α-syntrophin in the maintenance of the postsynaptic apparatus of the neuromuscular synapse. Human Molecular Genetics. 2022 Jul 21;31(14):2370-2385. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddac041.
• Sundaresan S, Antoun J, Banan B, Adcock J, Johnson C, Claire B, Dixon K, Flynn J, Shibao CA, Abumrad N. Botulinum Injection into the Proximal Intestinal Wall of Diet-Induced Obese Mice Leads to Weight Loss and Improves Glucose and Fat Tolerance. Diabetes. 2022 Jul 1;71(7):1424-1438. doi: 10.2337/db21-0708. PMID: 35476783.
• Jones JC, Bodenstine TM. Connexins and Glucose Metabolism in Cancer. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2022; 23(17):10172.

2021

• Omar H, Gao F, Yoo H, Bim O Jr, Garcia C, LePard KJ, Mitchell JC, Agostini-Walesch G, Carrilho MR. Changes to dentin extracellular matrix following treatment with plant-based polyphenols. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2022 Feb; 126:105055. doi: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2021.105055. Epub 2021 Dec 16. PMID: 34929591.