Paul Petrus

Metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity often occur alongside mental health conditions such as depression, though little is known about this link. Disruption of circadian rhythms increases the risk of developing such comorbidities, yet the underlying mechanisms are poorly studied. To this end, the overarching scope of this project is to dissect the circadian genes and metabolites involved in metabolic- and mental- comorbidity. This will be achieved by combining multiple circadian datasets consisting of global gene expression and metabolite measurements in various organs to identify candidate factors involved in the pathophysiology of these comorbidities. Downstream experiments in cell cultures and mouse models will be utilized to dissect the mechanisms. Ultimately, the goal is to design novel therapies that targets circadian rhythms to treat metabolic- and mental- comorbidities.