Mark W. Sleeman, PhD

Education

• BSci, University of Melbourne
• PhD, Monash University

Research Interests

Dr. Sleeman is the Head of Metabolic Research at Regeneron Pharmaceuticalsin Tarrytown, New York. For the past two decades he has been interested in the interplay between insulin resistance and obesity, and more specifically the molecular mechanisms behind the regulation food intake and body weight. Recently, his research has focused on the role that gut hormones such as ghrelin and PYY play in signaling to a number of brain regions to modulate metabolic events. To that end he and his colleagues have generated a large number of genetically modified animals to study these phenotypes. Ultimately, his work may clarify the complex relationships on the role that circulating hormones play in regulation of short and long term metabolic events such as bone and mineral metabolism and food intake & body weight control.

Mark Sleeman was a recipient of a Juveniles Diabetes and Ruth Kirschstein Endocrine Fellowship at the University of Massachusetts in the laboratory of Dr Michael P. Czech where he studied mechanisms insulin-resistance/signaling. Dr Sleeman received his Ph.D. from Monash University, Australia, where he specialized in neurobiology and has published numerous papers in Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity in journals such as Nature Medicine, Nature Genetics, PNAS, Journal of Biological Chemistry and Diabetes and is a member of numerous professional societies in US.

Areas of Expertise

• Physiology
• Genomics

Publications of Note

Fegley DB, Holmes A, Riordan T, Faber CA, Weiss JR, Ma S, Batkai S, Pacher P, Dobolyi A, Murphy A, Sleeman MW, Usdin TB (2008) Increased fear- and stress-related anxiety-like behavior in mice lacking tuberoinfundibular peptide of 39 residues. Genes Brain Behav. 7(8):933-42.

López M, Lage R, Saha AK, Pérez-Tilve D, Vázquez MJ, Varela L, Sangiao-Alvarellos S, Tovar S, Raghay K, Rodríguez-Cuenca S, Deoliveira RM, Castañeda T, Datta R, Dong JZ, Culler M, Sleeman MW, Alvarez CV, Gallego R, Lelliott CJ, Carling D, Tschöp MH, Diéguez C, Vidal-Puig A (2008) Hypothalamic fatty acid metabolism mediates the orexigenic action of ghrelin. Cell Metab. 7(5):389-99.

Sleeman MW, Latres E (2008) The CAMplexities of central ghrelin. Cell Metab. 7(5):361-2.

Raz R, Stricker S, Gazzerro E, Clor JL, Witte F, Nistala H, Zabski S, Pereira RC, Stadmeyer L, Wang X, Gowen L, Sleeman MW, Yancopoulos GD, Canalis E, Mundlos S, Valenzuela DM, Economides AN (2008) The mutation ROR2W749X, linked to human BDB, is a recessive mutation in the mouse, causing brachydactyly, mediating patterning of joints and modeling recessive Robinow syndrome. Development. 135(9):1713-23.

Pfluger PT, Kirchner H, Günnel S, Schrott B, Perez-Tilve D, Fu S, Benoit SC, Horvath T, Joost HG, Wortley KE, Sleeman MW, Tschöp MH (2008) Simultaneous deletion of ghrelin and its receptor increases motor activity and energy expenditure. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 294(3):G610-8.

Links of Interests

• REGENERON