Dr Nina Balthasar

Research summary

Our research focuses on identifying neuronal pathways in the central regulation of energy homeostasis and, when that regulation goes wrong, obesity-induced hypertension.

Specialized brain structures, including the hypothalamus, sense the body's energy status, integrate this information and elicit an appropriate response to the rest of the body. Recent research has begun to unravel some of the neuronal pathways regulating body weight, but the exact mechanisms by which metabolic signals are sensed by the CNS and translated into a coordinated response are still unclear.

Genome wide association scans in patient populations are identifying more and more novel genes associated with ...

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Biography

01. 2007-present       Research Councils UK Academic Research Fellow, University of Bristol, School of Physiology and Pharmacology, UK

11. 2006 - 10. 2010       British Heart Foundation Intermediate Basic Research Fellow, University of Bristol, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, UK

01.-06. 2006       Research Fellow, University of Bristol, Department of Biochemistry, UK

02.-12. 2005      Instructor in Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA

11. 2000 - 02.2005       Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Division of Endocrinology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA

04. 2001      Ph.D. awarded by University College London, UK ...

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Selected publications

• Balthasar, N, Rossi, J, Olson, D, Scott, M, Berglund, E, Lee, C, Choi, M, Lauzon, D, Lowell, B & Elmquist, J 2011, ‘Melanocortin-4 receptors expressed by cholinergic neurons regulate energy balance and glucose homeostasis’. Cell Metabolism, vol 13., pp. 195 - 204
• Lerner, R, Depatie, C, Rutter, G, Screaton, R & Balthasar, N 2009, ‘A role for the CREB co-activator CRTC2 in the hypothalamic mechanisms linking glucose sensing with gene regulation’. EMBO Reports, vol 10., pp. 1175 - 1181

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Recent publications

• Sohn, J, Harris, LE, Berglund, ED, Liu, T, Vong, L, Lowell, BB, Balthasar, N, Williams, KW & Elmquist, JK 2013, ‘Melanocortin 4 Receptors Reciprocally Regulate Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Preganglionic Neurons’. Cell, vol 152.
• Weir, HJM, Murray, TK, Kehoe, PG, Love, S, Verdin, EM, O'Neill, MJ, Lane, JD & Balthasar, N 2012, ‘CNS SIRT3 expression is altered by reactive oxygen species and in Alzheimer's disease’. PLoS ONE, vol 7., pp. e48225

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View complete publications list in the University of Bristol publications system