Elizabeth Gilbert

From an undergraduate degree in wildlife biology to a postdoctoral research position in the area of comparative genomics, I have always had a strong interest in the evolutionary basis of complex traits and adaptations that confer unique physiological attributes to different species. My Master’s and Ph.D. research focused on the regulation of gene expression of intestinal nutrient transporters in black bears and birds and through this research I cultivated my passion for nutritional science and molecular biology, in particular the understanding of how nutrients regulate gene expression and cellular functions. I completed a postdoctoral appointment in the area of pancreatic beta cell regeneration where I identified plant-based compounds with effects on beta cell proliferation and viability in culture and confirmed their anti-diabetic effects in a mouse model. I also conducted postdoctoral research in the area of nutritional proteomics; using a mass spectrometric-based approach to identify proteins involved in the development of the small intestine in birds from lines that had undergone selection for growth under different nutritional environments. My final postdoctoral project, in the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Medical Biology at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden, involved characterizing the function of a transcription factor that was identified as a repressor of insulin-like growth factor 2, ZBED6, using a variety of functional genomics-based approaches in different cell types. I assumed a tenure-track faculty position at Virginia Tech in 2012 and have since established a research program that focuses on understanding the molecular basis for eating disorders, insulin resistance, and obesity, using chicks as the primary research model.