Regulation of Metabolism by Hepatic OXPHOS: A Dissertation

The signature of the Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences signifies that the student has met all graduation requirements of the school. Dedication This work is humbly dedicated to my wife Heather, without whose love, support, and friendship these accomplishments would not have been attainable, and to our son Oliver, whose presence has brought us incredible happiness. You are both my inspiration and my joy. iv Acknowledgements I must begin by thanking my thesis mentor, Dr. Marcus Cooper, for inviting me into his laboratory and under his tutelage. Learning from Marcus has been critical in shaping my development as an aspiring investigator. I remain inspired by the enthusiasm, passion, and work ethic which he brings to the laboratory each day, and am thankful to have had the opportunity to learn from him. Marcus' constant encouragement to not only work hard, but think hard, about scientific questions will continue to benefit me throughout my career. Second, I must acknowledge our postdoctoral fellow, Lijun Liu, who initiated the project described herein. Lijun's early experiments were crucial in shaping the direction of this project, and I am indebted to her for her hard work. Moreover, Lijun made significant contributions to my technical and experimental development, and for that I thank her. Additionally, I would like to thank Minwoo Nam, my fellow graduate student and partner in the laboratory. Minwoo's technical assistance, thoughtful conversation, and supportive friendship were immensely helpful during my years in the laboratory. I wish him the best of luck as he completes his thesis work and looks toward his next endeavor. I would also like to recognize my thesis committee, chair Dr. constructive feedback throughout the development of this work. Thank you all for your advice and support, which were integral for my research. v Additionally, I must acknowledge my clinical preceptor, Dr. Howard Sachs. My work with Dr. Sachs has been invaluable on my path to becoming a physician. More, his approach to caring for patients and clinical medicine are inspiring, and my sessions with him will remain a highlight of my clinical education. I am grateful for the members of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, who have provided everything from reagents and technical advice to necessary (and at times, not so necessary) distractions during my research. I consider many of you good friends and am grateful to have you as colleagues. Finally, I want to extend …