As a chemical engineer in the nanoengineering department at UCSD, Julia participated in research at the interface between nanotechnology and medicine. Especially, the extraordinary power of novel therapeutics to control the outcome of disease immediately captured her interest. At the same time, it is her goal to also obtain a comprehensive understanding of underlying disease pathophysiology on the path to solving modern medicine’s most pressing dilemmas.

Under Dr. Andrea Hevener at UCLA, Julia is contributing to advances on our fundamental understanding of metabolism and metabolic disease. The most common metabolic disorders seen in the U.S. include type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and liver cancers, among others, and are further linked by a common theme of excessive adipose tissue. The literature has shown estrogen receptor α to inversely associate with adiposity and positively correlate with a reduction in metabolic dysfunction. Thus, ESR1/Esr1, the gene that encodes Erα, is likewise positively implicated in counteraction against metabolic dysfunction and obesity. To elucidate the role of Esr1 in this counteraction, Julia is exploring genetically engineered murine models that which selectively knock out or conditionally overexpress Erα in adipose tissues. With Dr. Hevener’s group, she is evaluating the impact of Erα expression in adipose tissue on metabolic health by examining adipocyte size and function assessed through cellular mitochondrial form and oxidative capacity and RNA sequencing performed on adipose tissue samples for gene and protein expression profiles in support of metabolic health.

Julia thanks the Amgen foundation and the Hevener group for this research opportunity.