معرفی
Alex Banks is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), with a focus on metabolic disorders. As Director of the Energy Balance core facility at BIDMC, he employs indirect calorimetry to study energy expenditure, food intake, and thermogenesis in mice. His research bridges genetic, pharmacological, and environmental factors to enhance understanding of obesity and metabolic diseases, while developing open-source tools like CalR to standardize metabolic analysis for the broader scientific community.
- Role: Assistant Professor
- Affiliation: Harvard Medical School, BIDMC
- Facility: Energy Balance Core Director
Research Interests: The Banks Lab investigates mechanisms of obesity and metabolic disorders, emphasizing energy balance regulation through:
- Indirect calorimetry and metabolic rate analysis
- Genetic and pharmacological modulation of PPARγ
- Gut microbiome interactions with host metabolism
- Neural circuits controlling thermogenesis and food-seeking behavior
- Development of computational tools (CalR) for metabolic data
Scientific Trends: Recent work spans obesity-linked phosphorylation of PPARγ, thermogenesis regulation via thyroid hormone, microbiome-dependent metabolic control, and novel methods for calorimetry. Collaborative projects address translational applications in bariatric surgery and metabolic drug development.
Collaborations: The lab serves as a hub for Harvard/Boston-area researchers and provides freely accessible analytical tools to maximize utility of animal and human studies in combating obesity.
