Gabor Wittmann, PhD

Mentor   Dr. Lechan

Recent Work

Dr. Wittmann received his PhD from the Institute of Experimental Medicine in Budapest, Hungary and is a gifted neuroscientist.  He has exceptional skills that are unparalleled by most investigators including stereotaxic surgery, in situ hybridization histochemistry, multi-labeling immunofluorescence and image analysis.  He received the Young Investigator Award of the Hungarian Society for Endocrinology and Metabolism and a Postdoctoral Fellowship Award from the Hilda and Preston Davis Foundation.   Included among his work are elucidation of the projections of TRH-producing neurons in the anterior parvocellular subdivision of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus using anterograde and retrograde neuronal tract-tracing; dual in situ hybridization and in situ hybridization combined with immunocytochemistry to study the VGLUT2 and GAD67 mRNA-expressing subpopulations of hypothalamic POMC neurons; elucidation of the function of the type 2 deiodinase (D2) enzyme in the mediobasal hypothalamus; and the role of inflammation on activation D2 and thyroid hormone transporters in the central nervous system.  His work has been published in well-respected and highly refereed journals, and recognized by The Endocrine Society with an Outstanding Abstract Award.  Some of his recent work on the heterogeneity of hypothalamic cells involved in the regulation of appetite and energy expenditure is of paramount importance and potentially could lead to a new understanding about how to treat obesity.