Gargi Chatterjee Basu, PhD

Postdoctoral Trainee

Washington University in St. Louis (WU)

My interest in understanding the etiology of human disease particularly as related to the potential impact of lifestyle on cognition. During my first postdoctoral training, I examined the role of CXCR4 in disease-associated microglia (DAM) within the context of tauopathy. Upon completion of in silico analysis, I was interested in studying brain energy metabolism using direct experimental approaches. I am currently studying the role of neuronal metabolism and its role in behavior and cognition. For my current studies, I am using D36-/- mice, a fatty acid transporter and cell signaling protein, with regulatory actions in cellular metabolism. I have identified from in vitro assays of neuronal metabolism and from hippocampal RNAseq data that neurons of CD36-/- mice have impaired oxidative metabolism. My long-term goal is to continue in studying the behavioral impact of altered neuronal metabolism in obesity, T2D and aging.