Investigators: Gursimran Dhamrait, Kunjal Panchal, Naomi Fleury, Prue Hart, Shelley Gorman, Tamara Abel
Project description
Funding from the Diabetes Research Foundation of Western Australia enabled the team to investigate whether ultraviolet radiation (UVR) increases the use of energy in fat tissues (brown adipose tissue) that are important for regulating metabolism. This team established new methods to track the activation of processes that consume fat and sugar (thermogenesis) in brown adipose tissue. We performed an in-depth analysis to examine the effects of exposure to UVR on thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue and whether any changes were linked with the suppressive effects of UVR on the development of obesity and metabolic dysfunction. This project involved Ms Naomi Fleury (research assistant) and Ms Gursimran Dhamrait (as part of her Masters of Public Health, University of Western Australia, 2016-17), and Ms Kunjal Panchal (Honours, Murdoch University, 2018), in which she reports the findings from this project. In 2018, we obtained funding from The Kids Research Institute Australia Research Focus Area to determine whether the circadian rhythm of thermogenesis is regulated by exposure to UVR.
Collaborators
- Alicia Kowaltowski (Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil)
- Maria Fernanda Forni (Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil)
- Peter Mark (University of Western Australia)
- Robyn Lucas (Australian National University)
- Martin Feelisch (University of Southampton)
- Richard Weller (University of Edinburgh)
- Vance Matthews (University of Western Australia)