Dr. Farnaz Shamsi Receives American Heart Association Career Development Award to Study the Mechanism of Brown Fat Aging
NYU Dentistry has been awarded a three-year grant in the amount of $231,000 by the American Heart Association (AHA) for research to identify the mechanisms for brown fat aging, addressing a critical knowledge gap in metabolic aging that is of paramount importance for human health in the coming century.
The research project, “Unlocking the Mechanism of Brown Fat Aging,” is led by Dr. Farnaz Shamsi, assistant professor of molecular pathobiology. Brown adipose tissue, also known as brown fat, is a special type of fat that breaks down sugar and fat molecules to produce heat to maintain body temperature – keeping the body warm in cold. It also burns calories, lowers blood sugar and fat levels, and might help to prevent obesity.
Obesity is a serious and growing health problem worldwide. Obesity increases the risk of other diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and high blood pressure. Changes in lifestyle habits such as diet and exercise have some benefits, but most people on diet and/or exercise programs do not maintain long-term weight loss. Accordingly, finding ways to prevent or treat obesity is an urgent need for the health care and research communities.
The primary obstacle to harnessing the potential of brown fat for combating obesity in humans lies in the fact that most adult individuals possess a limited amount of brown fat. Brown fat mass and its activity drastically decrease as we age; this decline is closely linked to an elevated risk of developing obesity and metabolic syndrome. Since both obesity and metabolic syndromes are more prevalent among older individuals, the prospect of restoring brown fat function in older individuals holds significant promise for enhancing cardiometabolic health in the human population.
“This research will enable us to construct an integrated understanding of the pathways driving brown fat aging. The findings are expected to pave the way for the development of innovative medications designed to prevent and manage obesity, as well as other cardiometabolic diseases,” notes Dr. Shamsi.