Alfonso Abizaid, PhD
Associate Professor, Carleton University, Department of Neuroscience
AREAS OF ACADEMIC & RESEARCH INTEREST
- Obesity
- Neuroendocrine regulation
- Stress
Dr. Abizaid’s research is focused on understanding how brain and gut hunger hormones work to regulate feeding and energy balance, and how the environment can affect these processes. This includes research into how changes in dietary quality, stress, changes in daily rhythms, development and exposure to environmental toxins mediate our hunger hormones and the impact this has on eating.
"NeuroTrition provides a service that is much needed and very scarce in the private and public sector. Knowledge translation allows for better decision making that can increase not only personal health, but also informed decisions about our health. This is truly an advantage that in the long term will save millions in health care expenses."
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
MEMBERSHIPS & SOCIETIES
Society for Neuroscience
Endocrine Society
Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology
Canadian Association for Neuroscience
Canadian Association for Obesity
American Association for the Study of Obesity
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
- Abizaid, A., Liu, Z.W., Andrews, Z.B., Shanabrough, M., Borok, E., Elsworth, J.D., Roth, R.H., Sleeman, M.W., Picciotto, M.R., Tschöp, M.H., Gao, X.B. and Horvath, T.L. (2006). Ghrelin modulates the activity and synaptic input organization of midbrain dopamine neurons while promoting appetite. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 116(12), 3229-3239.
- Raspopow, K., Abizaid, A., Matheson, K and Anisman, H. (2010). Psychosocial stressor effects on cortisol and ghrelin in emotional and non-emotional eaters: influence of anger and shame. Hormones and Behavior, 58(4), 677-684.
- MacKay, H., Patterson, Z.R., Khazall, R., Patel, S., Tsirlin, D. and Abizaid, A. (2013). Organizational effects of perinatal exposure to bisphenol-A and diethylstilbestrol on arcuate nucleus circuitry controlling food intake and energy expenditure in male and female CD-1 mice. Endocrinology, 154(4), 1465-1475.
- Patterson, Z.R and Abizaid, A. (2013). Stress induced obesity: lessons from rodent models of stress. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 7, 130.
- Patterson, Z.R., Khazall, R., Mackay, H., Anisman, H. and Abizaid, A. (2013). Central ghrelin signaling mediates the metabolic response of C57BL/6 male mice to chronic social defeat stress. Endocrinology, 154(3), 1080-1091.
