Shannon Reilly

Shannon Reilly is an Assistant Professor of Metabolic Health and Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical School, Cornell University, where she leads research on molecular pathways regulating lipolytic adipocyte metabolism to develop treatments for metabolic diseases including obesity and cachexia.

Her educational background:

• Undergraduate studies at Mount Holyoke College and UMass Amherst
• Ph.D. in Public Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health combining wet lab research with epidemiology and biostatistics
• Postdoctoral fellowship in Alan Saltiel's laboratory

Reilly's research demonstrates white adipocytes participate in thermogenesis through uncoupled energy expenditure, contrary to prior assumptions of passive energy storage. Her lab investigates catecholamine-activated signaling during lipolysis, focusing on STAT3 serine 727 phosphorylation mechanisms and STAT3-GPAT3 interaction domains to identify novel therapeutic targets. She emphasizes obesity as a complex disease requiring compassionate treatment approaches rather than societal blame.

As a junior associate editor for the Journal of Lipid Research, Reilly contributes to scientific publishing while mentoring diverse trainees in her lab. Her work explores how modest increases in white adipose tissue energy expenditure could transform obesity therapeutics, bridging basic science with clinical applications.