Appetite Lab Projects

Current projects:

Neural and behavioral mechanisms of obesity development from infancy through childhood (R01DK136602, Carnell Contact PI)

This project aims to test whether development within brain appetite circuits from infancy to 6y is associated with brain, eating behavior and weight outcomes in middle childhood, and partly mediates the effects of prenatal and genetic risk factors as well as postnatal protective factors on middle childhood outcomes.

Early brain development and childhood obesity (R01DK113286, Carnell MPI)

The goal of this project is to test whether genetic and early pre and post-natal environmental conditions affect child eating behaviors and weight outcomes by altering patterns of brain development.

Assessing the evolving impact of early life exposures on child physical health and neurodevelopment (UG3OD023313, Carnell Co-I)

This project aims to test a central hypothesis that that child neurodevelopment is an integrative process that is shaped by the dynamic interaction of pre-and postnatal exposures, co-developing child physical health (asthma and obesity), and environmental moderators that act at the child, family, and neighborhood levels.

Impact of hypothalamic gliosis on appetite regulation and obesity risk in children (R01DK117623, Carnell Co-I)

This is a multi-site longitudinal cohort study to investigate whether hypothalamic gliosis is associated with intake regulation and/or altered brain responses to food stimuli in children.

Complete Projects:

The developing brain: Influences and outcomes (UG3OD023313, Carnell Co-I)

This project aims to investigate how brain growth is altered by specific pre- and post-natal environmental or genetic factors, and how patterns of brain growth are associated with emerging cognitive and behavioral abilities.

A study of tirzepatide in overweight and very overweight participants (Carnell Site PI)

The purpose of this study is to measure the effect of tirzepatide on food intake in participants who are overweight or very overweight. The study uses MRI to learn more about how tirzepatide affects specific parts of the brain. The effect of tirzepatide on appetite will also be studied. The study lasts up to four months and includes up to 14 visits to the study center.

Neural mechanisms of appetite dysregulation in Anorexia Nervosa: The role of AGRP (Klarman Family Foundation, Carnell Co-I)

The goal of this project is to investigate the role of neural mechanisms that affect food intake, specifically those mediated by agouti-related peptide (AgRP), in Anorexia Nervosa.

Publications

For a full list of publications click here.

Kudos