News
October 2024: The Reue Lab Welcomes Rebecca Hernandez to the lab
Dr. Rebecca Hernandez is joining the Reue Lab as a postdoctoral scholar after completing her dissertation at UC Riverside. Her dissertation research identified effects of paternal high cholesterol diet on atherosclerosis in the offspring. With her atherosclerosis knowledge, she will contribute to on-going studies evaluating atherosclerotic sex differences and mechanisms driving sex differences in response to statin treatment. She was selected to participate in the new Bioscientists of Tomorrow (BoT) Cohort Program, which will provide guided professional development to prepare for an academic career. Welcome to UCLA and the lab Rebecca!
October 2024: Leducq AtheroGEN Meeting in Portugal
Victor and Carrie attended the semiannual, in-person AtheroGEN meeting in Portugal. Victor presented our on-going studies characterizing the contribution of each sex component on atherosclerosis using the Four Core Genotypes mouse model. Carrie presented hepatic sex differences identified by multi-omics analysis of Four Core Genotypes mice. It was a great meeting with collaborators in beautiful Albufeira, Portugal. The Reue Lab is excited to host the spring meeting in Los Angeles!
September 2024: Welcome Undergraduate Researchers
As the Fall quarter starts, the Reue lab welcomes new and returning undergraduate researchers to the lab. Vanessa Barrios, Barbara Soliman, and Maxwell Yao are returning to the lab for their senior year. We welcome three new students this academic year: Malvika Iyer, Genesis Munoz, and Nadia Svejda. Welcome back to campus students!
September 2024: NIH Specialized Centers of Research Excellence (SCORE) on Sex Differences Annual Meeting
Members of our “Sex Differences in Cardiometabolic Health and Disease” SCORE grant attended the annual meeting at National Institutes of Health main campus in Bethesda, MD. Drs. Karen Reue and Hooman Allayee presented their groups research. Dr. Reue presented “Sex-Diet Interactions in Cardiometabolic Disease” and Dr. Allayee presented “Genetically Decreased CPS1 Activity Attenuates Atherosclerosis in Humans and Mice Through Sexually Dimorphic Patterns”. Drs. Laurent Vergnes (Reue lab) and Dillan Sarver (Lusis lab) attended the meeting and presented research posters. It was a great meeting learning the latest sex differences research from the other SCORE programs.
July 2024: The Reue Lab Welcomes Priscilla for the Summer
Priscilla Ceja joined the Reue Lab this summer through the Richard Morgan Summer Research Fellowship Program, which supports undergraduate students aiming to pursue MD-PhD programs. Priscilla is a Biochemistry B.S. candidate at California State University, Long Beach, with prior research experience in genetics at both CSULB and Caltech. This summer, she will work with Victor to evaluate sex differences in postprandial inflammation using in vitro models of macrophages.
June 2024: The Reue Lab in the News
Dr. Reue and the lab were recently featured in a UCLA news article! The article highlights how women’s health has been ignored in science research, but our research and other research at UCLA aims to address this problem. UCLA has two NIH-funded Specialized Center of Research Excellence (SCORE) programs focused on disease sex differences and women’s health conditions. Check out the article here!
May 2024: Victor Received an IRACDA fellowship.
Victor was selected for the IRACDA program. The IRACDA program provides additional training in pedagogy and experience in teaching during the postdoctoral training period. Congratulations Victor!!
May 2024: UCLA Undergraduate Research Week
The Reue Lab had a strong showing at the UCLA Undergraduate Research Week this year! Barbara Soliman, Vanessa Barrios, and Maxwell Yao each presented their research projects in oral presentations. This is a great opportunity for students to present their research findings to a larger audience. Great job Barbara, Vanessa, and Maxwell!!
May 2024: Vascular Discovery Conference
Carrie attended the American Heart Association Vascular Discovery Conference in Chicago. She presented her research on the role of Kdm6a dosage on adiposity as a contributor to cardiometabolic sex differences. During the conference, she received the ATVB Investigator in Training award.
April 2024: Leducq AtheroGen Meeting in Michigan
The Reue lab traveled to Ann Arbor Michigan for the Spring Leducq AtheroGEN Meeting. It was a great meeting learning about research progress and discussing on-going projects with collaborators through this network.
April 2024: UCLA Joint SCORE Annual Symposium
Members of the Reue lab attend the Joint SCORE Annual Symposium at UCLA. Carrie presented her research on the role of Kdm6a dosage influencing sex differences in adiposity. Maxwell Yao presented a poster on his research evaluating sex differences in mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle. Maxwell received an award for his presentation. Congratulations Maxwell! Also, Victor assisted with planning the symposium. Thanks Victor for contributing to planning a great symposium!
December 2023: Mitochondria Symposium at UCLA
Laurent attended the Mitochondria Symposium at UCLA and presented a poster on “Sex differences in adipose mitochondrial activity in sedentary and exercised mice”. He was a panelist for the “Recipes for what to do with my PhD” and the “Adipose tissue remodeling & mitochondrial lipid droplet interaction” sessions.
November 2023: NIH Annual SCORE Meeting
Karen, Laurent, and Carrie traveled to Bethesda, MD to attend the annual SCORE meeting at NIH. They were joined by additional members of the collaborative SCORE grant: Andrea Hevener, Nicole Lee Yang, and Leila Hashei. Laurent presented his work on “sex differences in adipose mitochondrial activity in sedentary and exercised mice”. Nicole presented a poster titled “The impact of cardiomyocellular expression of Esr1 on mitochondrial function and cardiac health” and Leila presented a poster titled “Association of gender-affirming hormone treatment with Metabolic Syndrome in transgender patients compared with cis-gender patients”.
November 2023: Victor Joined the Reue Lab
The Reue lab welcomes Victor Mendoza to the lab! Victor recently completed his doctoral degree at University of Chicago. As a postdoctoral scholar, he will be investigating sex differences in postprandial metabolism. Welcome Victor!
October 2023: Farewell Anna Spiering
While we are sad to see Anna leave Los Angeles, we are excited for her to complete her Master’s degree. We enjoyed hosting Anna in the Reue Lab as she contributed to understanding how specific X chromosome genes influence smooth muscle cell function. We look forward to continuing collaborating with Anna through the Leducq Network as she will be joining the den Ruijter lab at University Medical Center Utrecht (UMC Utrecht) to complete her PhD studies in 2024.
October 2023: New Review Article Published
Carrie, Rozeta, and Dr. Reue wrote a review article "The impact of chromosomal sex on cardiometabolic health and disease" for Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism Journal. They present the importance of sex chromosome dosage in normal physiology and cardiometabolic disease and describe the molecular mechanisms that have been identified to be impacted by sex chromosome dosage. Check out the article here.
September 2023: Reue Lab Receives SCORE Grant
Karen was awarded Specialized Centers on Research Excellence (SCORE) on Sex Differencs program grant—"Sex Differences in Cardiometabolic Health and Disease"— by NIH Office of Research on Women's Health and NHLBI. This grant includes three research projects directed by Drs. Reue, Lusis, and Hevener to identify factors that contribute to sex-specific cardiometabolic disease.
September 2023: Leducq AtheroGEN Meeting in Berlin
The Reue lab traveled to Berlin Germany for the biannual Leducq meeting. It was a day full of sex differences research updates and discussions with the 6 collaborating labs. We also had a Berlin Wall history lesson through the Under the Berlin Wall tour.
August 2023: New Publication on Inclusion of Sex as a Biological Variable in Education
Drs. Reue and Arnold described their approach to include sex as a biological variable (SABV) in undergraduate education as a means to improve research on women’s health in their recent publication. Their article was included in the Journal on Women’s Health special issue on Mechanisms of Career Enhancement at Specialized Centers of Research Excellence (SCORE) on Sex Differences, which includes a range of articles related to SABV and women’s health research. Check out the article here.
June 2023: UCLA Graduation
Congratulations to all of the 2023 UCLA graduates! Rozeta Avetisyan graduated with her PhD and was hooded by Dr. Reue. Anvi Brahmbhatt, Gillian Folk, and Maggie Polite graduated with their bachelor’s degrees this year. We wish the best for each of you!
June 2023: Welcome Summer Student Researchers
The Reue lab welcomes Julia Ariola Unas, a Columbia University student, to the lab. Julia will be studying the role of Kdm5c in mitochondrial biology in primary preadipocytes. The lab also welcomes two UCLA students: Maxwell Yao and Reuben Noorvash. Maxwell and Reuben will be learning a variety of molecular and cellular biology techniques during the summer.
April 2023: UCLA Joint SCORE Annual Symposium
The Reue lab attended the Joint SCORE Annual Symposium at UCLA. It was a great symposium focused on sex differences in brain-gut disorders and metabolism.
Anna Spiering presented her study evaluating the impact of clinical trial names on inclusion of women in cardiovascular trials. Great presentation Anna!
Maggie Polite presented her research on sex differences in adipose tissue mitochondrial activity in sedentary and exercised mice during the poster presentation. Maggie won the Best Student Presentation Award! Congrats Maggie!
April 2023: Rozeta's Thesis Defense
This month, Rozeta successfully defended her PhD thesis: X-linked KDM5C histone demethylase dosage is a determinant of sex differences in adiposity. Congrats Dr. Avetisyan!! We wish Rozeta the best as she transitions to a new position at Stanford.
March 2023: Welcome Anna to Los Angeles and the Reue Lab
Welcome to Los Angeles, Anna! Anna Spiering is a visiting master’s student from the Netherlands who will be in the Reue lab for ~8 months. She will be investigating the roles of X and Y chromosome genes in smooth muscle and endothelial cell phenotypes. This work and collaboration is achieved through the Leducq AtheroGEN consortium.
February 2023: First Leducq AtheroGEN Meeting
Karen, Laurent, and Carrie traveled to Atlanta, GA to meet with the 6 other collaborating labs joined together to understand sex differences in heart disease.
February 2023: Carrie was Awarded an NIH Fellowship
Congratulations to Carrie for being awarded an NIH F32 NRSA postdoctoral fellowship!
January 2023: Keystone Symposia on Adipose Tissue
Carrie was awarded a travel award to attend the Keystone Symposia in Keystone, CO. Congrats Carrie! The Adipose Tissue: Energizing Good Fat Symposia had many great talks and amazing views of the mountains.
December 2022: Christmas Party
The Reue and Covarrubias labs had a joint Christmas party with great food and a white elephant gift exchange.
November 2022: Zoey and Carrie's Recent Publication
Zoey and Carrie published their study "Chromosomal and gonadal sex drive sex differences in lipids and hepatic gene expression in response to hypercholesterolemia and statin treatment" in Biology of Sex Differences.
September 2022: Welcome Undergraduate Student Researchers
The Reue lab welcomes Vanessa Barrios and Natalia Raya Cortez to the lab as student researchers. They will be studying the role of the Y chromosome gene, Kdm5d, in adipose function and characterizing the Kdm5d transgenic mouse model. Also, Barbara Soliman will be staying with the lab to study sex differences in postprandial lipid response. Maggie Polite and Anvi Brahmbhatt are continuing their research projects this academic year.
September 2022: Joe has a New Publication
Joe's first-author paper was just published in Scientific Reports. In collaboration with the Reue Lab, Joe, a former rotation student, described a novel method to monitor grip strength. Congratulations, Joe!
June 2022: Welcome Summer Student Researchers
The Reue lab welcomes Barbara Soliman to the lab as a summer student researcher through the LA-JIP 2.0 research internship program. Barbara will be studying sex differences in adipose and muscle biology in response to exercise using the Four Core Genotypes mouse model.
The Reue lab welcomes Karen Ogisawa back to the lab as a summer student researcher. Karen will be studying sex differences in adipose and muscle biology in response to exercise using the XY* mouse model.
May 2022: OSSD Conference
The Reue Lab had a strong showing at the OSSD Conference held in Marina Del Ray, CA. Rozeta, Carrie, and Zoey each presented their research. Rozeta was awarded a travel award based on her submitted abstract. Carrie and Zoey were awarded Florence Haseltine poster awards based on their poster presentations.
April 2022: UCLA SCORE Symposium
Carrie and Rozeta both won poster awards for their presentations at the Joint UCLA SCORE Symposium. Gilly, Anvi, and Zoey also shared their work.
September 2021: Welcome Undergraduate Student Researchers
The Reue lab welcomes Maggie Polite and Julia Reitkopp to the lab as student researchers. Maggie will be studying sex differences in adipose biology with exercise using the Four Core Genotypes mouse model. Julia will be characterizing the Kdm5d transgenic mouse model to understand the role of the Y chromosome gene, Kdm5d, in physiology. Anvi Brahmbhatt will be continuing with the lab to study sex differences in muscle biology in response to exercise using the Four Core Genotypes mouse model.
September 2021: Huan completed her post-doc
Huan has finished her post-doc and is advancing to an Assistant Project Scientist position within the Division of Cardiology (Reddy Lab) at UCLA. Congratulations, Huan!
September 2021: Huan has a New Publication
Huan's work evaluating the role of Lipin1 in regulating mRNA splicing during fasting in the liver was published in JCI Insight this month. Congrats Huan!
August 2021: Welcome Summer Student Researchers
The Reue lab welcomes Karen Ogisawa to the lab as a summer student researcher. Karen will be characterizing the Kdm5d transgenic mouse model to understand the role of the Y chromosome gene, Kdm5d, in physiology.
May 2021: OSSD Conference
Congratulations to Rozeta, who won Best Graduate Poster Presentation at this year's OSSD virtual meeting!
April 2021: Joint UCLA Score Symposium
Carrie and Rozeta were both awarded for their excellent poster presentations at this year's virtual SCORE Symposium.
February 2021: The Reue Lab Moved into a New Location
The Reue lab moved into a new lab space in CHS within the Metabolism Research Theme!
January 2021: Welcome Undergraduate Student Researchers
The Reue lab welcomes Anvi Brahmbhatt, Zoey Agle, and Katherine Benitez to the lab as student researchers. Anvi will be studying the effect of Lipin 1 knockout on mRNA splicing and expression. Zoey will be evaluating sex differences in lipid metabolism and hepatic gene expression using the Four Core Genotypes mouse model. Kat will be studying the effect of Kdm5c gene dosage in brown and white adipose physiology.
January 2021: Rozeta Received an NIH Fellowship Grant
Congratulations to Rozeta, who was awarded an NIH F31 NRSA predoctoral grant titled "A Novel Mechanism Affecting Sex Differences in Adiposity"!
April 2020: Carrie Received a Fellowship Grant
Congratulations, Carrie, for being awarded the American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship!
March 2020: Jessica's Thesis Defense
Jessica defended her PhD thesis this month. Congratulations Jessica on all the hard work! We wish you the best as you finish your medical training!
November 2019: University of California Human Genetics Retreat
This month, Carrie was awarded the UCLA Human Genetics Postdoctoral Excellence in Research Award and Rozeta won a poster award at the University of California Human Genetics Retreat. Well done!
September 2019: Welcome Undergraduate Student Researchers
The Reue lab welcomes Gillian Folk and Catherine Dombroski to the lab as a student researcher. Gillian will be evaluating the role of the X chromosome gene, Kdm5c, in adipocyte biology in 3T3-L1 cells. Catherine will be studying two mouse models with reduced Kdm5c gene dosage—preadipocyte specific and mature adipocyte specific—to determine effect on adiposity.