Precisionary Webinar: Pallabi Sarkar (Vanessa Routh) on "Orexin Neurons and Energy Homeostasis"

Original webinar date: October 1, 2024
Pallabi Sarkar, an Instructor in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Human Physiology in India, followed by a PhD in Physiology from the Medical College of Wisconsin. After completing her postdoctoral training, she joined Dr. Vanessa Routh’s lab at Rutgers University, where she currently continues her research as a junior faculty member. Dr. Sarkar's research in the Routh Lab focuses on using electrophysiological, genetic/biochemical, and behavioral tools to investigate the role of the hypothalamus in maintaining energy homeostasis. Her projects explore various topics, including hypothalamic nutrient sensing in health and diabetes, food motivation during calorie restriction, hypothalamic regulation of metabolism (e.g., brown and beige fat thermogenesis, physical activity), and the synaptic plasticity underlying eating disorders.
In this webinar, Dr. Sarkar will discuss the role of lateral hypothalamus orexin neurons in glucose sensing and how these neurons are affected by different metabolic conditions. Beyond her research, she is deeply involved in training and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students.
Specific Learning Objectives include:
1. Understand the use of electrophysiological techniques to study hypothalamic glucose-sensing cells and their role in energy homeostasis.
2. Explore how repeated insulin-induced hypoglycemia impacts glucose sensing and alters animal behavioral responses to hypoglycemia.
3. Examine the cellular and molecular changes in glucose sensing that occur during calorie restriction.