Allison Xu

Allison Xu, PhD, is a Professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Diabetes Center within the School of Medicine. Her research focuses on understanding how hypothalamic and hindbrain neurons sense and integrate peripheral hormones and nutritional signals to regulate feeding, energy expenditure, glucose, and lipid metabolism. Her work aims to uncover mechanisms disrupted in obesity, type 2 diabetes, and aging.

• Grants: NIH R01DK136031 (Principal Investigator), NIH R01AG063506 (Principal Investigator), and others.
• Collaborators: Christian Vaisse, Suneil Koliwad, Martin Valdearcos, and others.

Research Themes: Allison's work bridges metabolism, neuroscience, and endocrinology, emphasizing AgRP neurons, brain-liver circuits, and age-related metabolic impairments. Her studies often use Animal Models to explore hormonal signaling and neuronal plasticity.

Scientific Contributions: Key grants include NIH R01DK080427 (Central Regulation of Hepatic Energy Stores) and NIH P30DK098722 (UCSF Nutrition Obesity Research Center). Her research highlights the role of neurogenesis in energy balance and the interaction between genetic factors (e.g., SOCS3) and environmental conditions (e.g., diet, aging).