I enjoy the application of cutting edge biotechnology discoveries for improving the efficiency of agricultural production. My laboratory research includes various aspects of the control of feeding behavior and energy balance regulation by the central nervous system. We have also been studying the adipocyte life cycle and various dietary bioactives that target different stages of the adipocyte life cycle. Biotechnology tools, including the development of transgenic animals and the use of genomics and proteomics, provide a way to study the molecular bases of these physiological systems in ways that have not been possible before.

Two critical problems related to food supply face the world today and in the future: obesity and starvation. Much of the world population is faced with the daily struggle of supplying enough food for basic living. Biotechnology is required to meet the growing needs of the world food supply. This technology can provide safe and sustainable means for doubling the quantity of food produced and also for meeting the increase in demand for higher quality grains, vegetables, fruits and animal products by the additional 5 billion people who will be added by year 2050. On the other side of the spectrum is the growing rate of obesity in developed countries. Understanding what controls the drive to eat, how food nutrients are metabolized and the important endocrine roles of adipose tissue will help provide solutions to the increasing health costs of obesity, diabetes and other related diseases.

In our obesity-related research, we are using both traditional physiological techniques and sophisticated genomics and proteomics techniques to better understand the life cycle of the fat cell and to unravel the communication network between the brain and adipose tissue. The mission of a new company is to discover and develop natural substances that reduce adiposity, prevent type 2 diabetes and increase bone mass by decreasing of adipocyte (fat cell) development and increasing rates of adipocyte cell death. Reducing body and bone marrow fat by removing adipocytes through apoptosis has been demonstrated in several experimental paradigms. Decreasing adiposity fat stores and bone marrow through this mechanism can result in long-lasting maintenance of weight loss and improved bone health, in contrast to that which occurs after caloric restriction. Because more than 90% of people who have lost weight by dieting will subsequently regain at least as much weight as they lost, a therapy that can help maintain weight loss will have tremendous importance in the treatment of obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis and related disorders.

The University of Georgia offered me the opportunity to continue my long term research interests, to help add new research infrastructure and facilities and to be involved in technology transfer. This unique combination of opportunities along with the support to initiate new ventures and projects did not exist anywhere else. I have helped found eight technology-based companies during my tenure at the University of Georgia. It has been a great experience.