Dr. Elahu Gosney Sustarsic
By Elahu Gosney Sustarsic
’03 B.S. in Chemistry—Biochemistry and ’13 Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology—Biological Sciences
My time at Ohio University with the Molecular and Cellular Biology program prepared me well for my current research. Specifically, the mentorship of John Kopchick, Darlene Berryman and Ed List taught me to think critically, the value of collaboration, and to always love what you do and have fun doing it.
With these lessons in mind, I found my dream job in the Gerhart-Hines lab at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen (an independent institution from the pharma company Novo Nordisk). My projects focus on mitochondrial biology of thermogenesis and endocrine regulation of metabolism. Our aim is to understand the molecular and physiological mechanisms that underpin the role of adipose tissue in regulation of whole-body metabolic homeostasis.
I am lucky to be in a truly world-class research institute with incredible resources and talented colleagues to collaborate with.
In the Gerhart-Hines lab, we work mostly in brown fat, a specialized fat tissue that is known for its high capacity to take up glucose and burn calories, rather than store them. It’s funny thinking back to my time at Ohio University, where I worked closely with Dr. Berryman. She was always trying to convince me that “fat is where it’s at.” I never gave it much thought, but now I realize she was right all along!
Elahu Gosney Sustarsic presenting at the European Congress of Endocrinology, Munich, 2016.
Soon after joining Zach’s lab in Copenhagen, I wrote an application for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship, a highly competitive European Union grant that promotes international mobility. I was incredibly fortunate to receive one of these fellowships, which began last fall. My Marie Curie project is focused on endocrine control of the calorie-consuming function of brown fat. I am collaborating with John on this, and I was actually able to welcome him to Copenhagen two years ago. I’ve invited him back to give another seminar to my institute this August.
Zack Gerhart-Hines, Elahu Gosney Sustarsic and John Kopchick, Copenhagen, 2015
Although I dearly miss Athens and Ohio University, I am loving life in Denmark. From hygge (an untranslatable word for coziness with friends and family), to bicycling culture, to delicious food and incredibly friendly people, Denmark is a remarkable place to live and work. I hope to one day be fortunate enough to get the chance to lead my own research group here in Denmark
Comments