Friday, October 19, 2012

Well how about that

Christina and I are at the conference.   Going  to the cake reception in a little while...

But look who's giving a talk on "Body weight regulation in narcolepsy"-
Devanjan Sikder PhD
Sikder began investigating how orexin—a hypothalamic neuropeptide—regulates metabolism, sleep patterns and feeding behavior, and the role that hunger plays in the regulation of fat metabolism and insulin secretion.
“Orexin agonists and antagonists have immense clinical implication for narcolepsy, insomnia, eating disorders—anorexia, bulimia and Prader-Willi syndrome—and even addiction,” said Sikder, DVM, PhD, an assistant professor at Burnham Institute for Medical Research at Lake Nona specializing in genetic engineering. “Orexin improves glucose sensitivity by stimulating glucose dependent insulin release from the pancreatic beta cells, and at the cellular level, augments the mitochondria’s ability to burn sugar and enhance basal energy expenditure. Using genetic, genomic and biochemical tools, we’re trying to understand biochemical attributes defining sleep, wakefulness and hunger.”

Looks like I won't have to tape my mouth closed after all.