Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Dr. Hall’s research focuses on the molecular mechanism(s) that drive hepatic lipid accumulation in obesity. Her background and training is in the area of lipid and protein biochemistry. She discovered that the expression of the Mogat1 gene is markedly induced in the livers of several mouse models of obesity. Mogat1 encodes an enzyme (MGAT1) that catalyzes the synthesis of diacylglycerol. Dr. Hall has initiated animal studies to define the physiologic and pathophysiologic consequences of increased hepatic expression of Mogat1 using obese mouse models. She is also interested in translating these findings to obese humans subjects studied by other investigators of the Nutrition Obesity Research Center. Dr. Hall uses a variety of molecular biological, biochemical, and in vivo metabolic approaches to achieve these research goals.