Gregory Shearer
The consequences of over-nutrition and the stress of "western diets" related to lipid mediators and a global shift of dietary fatty acids; identifying markers of disease and better ways to prevent or manage disease.
University Park, PA 16802
PhD
Lipid mediators are bioactive metabolites of dietary fatty acids. They act on tissues to alter many disease-related functions, including the stiffness of blood vessels and the body's response to stress.
Most investigations focus on the actions of individual lipid mediators, however over-nutrition and the stress of "western diets" is characterized by a global shift of dietary fatty acids, not a shift in any single fatty acid. The consequence of multiple changes in fatty acids is a corresponding change in the array of lipid mediators produced. We seek to understand disease-related functional changes in the context of globally changes and use them to identify markers of disease and better ways to prevent or manage disease.