COCVD

The External Advisory Committee (EAC) is comprised of distinguished scientists who are recognized leaders in the field of focus of the COCVD and have a strong record of scientific accomplishments, experience in administration, mentoring and training, and a history of NIH funding. Each member of the EAC has been assigned as mentor for junior investigators to provide input from a distinguished scientist from a national, broader perspective. Members of the EAC are Dr. Robert Eckel, Dr. Robert Hegele and Dr. Patrick Tso.

EAC MEMBERS

Robert Eckel, M.D. is a professor of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Colorado Denver. He is also the Charles A. Boettcher II Endowed Chair in Atherosclerosis. Dr. Eckel received an M.D. from the University of Cincinnati, followed by residency and intern training in Endocrinology at the University of Wisconsin. He was a fellow at the University of Washington in Endocrinology and Metabolism. Dr. Eckel serves on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Obesity, Obesity Research, American Journal of Medicine, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, and the Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism. His research is focused on obesity, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular disease, with a focus on lipoprotein lipase in vascular endothelial cells and its role in triglyceride synthesis in obesity. His research program spans from studies in animals to clinical trials in humans, and is directly related to obesity and associated diseases. Dr. Eckel has been assigned to mentor Dr. Shuxia Wang (Project 4). Dr. Eckel was the 2005/2006 president of the American Heart Association, and as such will provide invaluable input to the COCVD in obesity and cardiovascular disease.

Robert Hegele, M.D. is a professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. Dr. Hegele is also a scientist at Robarts Research Institute in the Blackburn Laboratory of Cardiovascular Genetics in Canada, and is the Canada Research Chair in Human Genetics, Tier 1, Canada. Dr. Hegele was the 2004 recipient of the Jeffrey Hoeg Award for Basic Science and Clinical Research, Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, American Heart Association. He holds a long list of other honors and awards, highlighting his contributions to human genetics in the areas of atherosclerosis, diabetes, dyslipidemia and lipodystrophy. Dr. Hegele has spanned the entire breadth of research encompassing studies in genetics, to basic science, to a broad array of clinical studies in unique patient populations such as the Oji-Cre community in Canada, focusing on genetics that mediate the high prevalence of diabetes in this population. Dr. Hegele has been assigned to mentor Dr. Kevin Pearson (Project 2), and Dr. Zhenyi Li (Project 5). His experiences as a physician-scientist greatly facilitate their research. In general, Dr. Hegele’s research expertise in all aspects of the metabolic syndrome, ranging from studies directed at the cell to humans, are a great asset to the investigators of the COCVD.

Dr. Patrick Tso, Ph.D. is a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, director of the Cincinnati Mouse Metabolic Phenotype Center, leader of the Lipid Group, and associate director of the Obesity Research Center at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Tso serves as associate director of the Clinical Nutrition Unit at the University of Cincinnati, and was recently appointed as the associate editor for the American Journal of Physiology. Dr. Tso was the recipient of the Distinguished Research Award from the American Physiological Society in 2002. Dr. Tso’s research program studies mechanisms of fat and cholesterol absorption, food intake regulation by apolipoprotein A-IV, and the role of hypothalamic dysfunction in the development of obesity. He has served on the General Medicine Study Section, Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease Special Grants Review Committee, and the Nutrition Study Section at the NIH. Dr. Tso’s basic science research program is well suited to interface and assist the junior investigators of the COCVD. Dr. Tso’s experience as director of the Mouse Metabolic Phenotype Center is a tremendous benefit to the establishment of a Research Support Core to assess lean and fat mass in mice as a critical measure of obesity for members of the COCVD.  Dr. Tso has been assigned to mentor Dr. Victoria King-McBrayer (Project 1) and Dr. Erik Eckhardt (Project 3). His expertise in lipid metabolism facilitates Dr. King’s studies focused on interactions between SAA and lipoproteins and Dr. Eckhardt’s work with absorption of gut antigens in adipose tissue.