Vijay Hegde,

JAD profile

Affiliation(s): 

Texas Tech University

Areas of Interest: 

Alzheimer's disease, obesity, diabetes, Cancer biology.

Biography & Research: 

I am currently an assistant professor in the department of Nutritional Sciences at Texas Tech University. My primary research interest is to discover effective strategies to prevent or treat obesity and associated comorbidities. The research focus is on characterizing the E4orf1 protein of human adenovirus type 36 (Ad36), which improves glucose disposal. Current studies involve developing E4orf1 of Ad36 as a novel therapeutic agent to improve diabetes. A growing body of research suggests there's a powerful connection between diet and risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), via similar pathways that cause type 2 diabetes (T2D). The risk of developing both T2D and AD increases proportionally with age, and evidence shows that individuals with T2D have a nearly two-fold higher risk of AD than non-diabetic individuals. I am mainly interested in attenuating glucose intolerance in aging individuals and determining its benefits on prevention or delay in developing AD. Other research focuses on obesity and cancer, particularly NAFLD and NASH mediated liver cancer.