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Kavaljit H. Chhabra, M.Pharm., Ph.D.

Contact Information

Phone Numbers

Administrative: (585) 276-4994

Office: (585) 273-4523

Research Labs

Faculty Appointments

Biography

Research

After obtaining Bachelor and Master of Pharmacy: Pharmacology degrees from Gujarat University in India, Dr. Chhabra moved to New Orleans to pursue a PhD at LSU Health in the Department of Pharmacology. Dr. Chhabra gained theoretical and experiential understanding of blood glucose regulation in Dr. Eric Lazartigues' lab, where he studied the role of pancreatic ACE2 in diabetes in mice. Dr. Chhabra was a recipient of a pre-doctoral fellowship, 2011-2013, from the American Heart Association in addition to other national recognitions such as Outstanding Abstract/Oral Presentation Awards by the American Physiological Society.
For his post-doctoral training, in 2013, Dr. Chhabra joined Dr. Malcolm Low's lab at the University of Michigan to study the function of the central melanocortin system in glucose homeostasis. Under Dr. Low's mentorship, Dr. Chhabra has identified the function of hypothalamic pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) in glucose reabsorption via GLUT2, an insulin-independent mechanism of glucose regulation, which was highlighted in the March 2016 issue of Diabetes journal. Moreover, Dr. Chhabra has unraveled a reciprocal relationship between hypothalamic POMC and leptin for which he was awarded a Novel Disease Model Award by the American Physiological Society in 2016. Dr. Chhabra has further demonstrated the contribution of hypothalamic POMC in the regulation of basal sympathetic nervous system activity, which in turn is essential for normal glucose reabsorption.
Dr. Chhabra is a recipient of Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow and Outstanding Postdoctoral Teaching Awards by the University of Michigan. Most recently, Dr. Chhabra has received an Early Investigator Award by The Endocrine Society.
Dr. Chhabra's current research project on the contribution of hypothalamic melanocortin 4 receptor signaling in hypoglycemia counterregulation is funded by a K01 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Credentials

Education

2005
BPharm | Gujarat University
Pharmacy

2007
MPharm | Gujarat University
Pharmacology

2013
PhD | LSU Health Sciences Center
Pharmacology

Post-doctoral Training & Residency

07/01/2013 - 06/30/2018
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Lab of Malcolm Low, MD, PhD.

Publications

Journal Articles

3/15/2022
de Souza Cordeiro LM, Bainbridge L, Devisetty N, McDougal DH, Peters DJM, Chhabra KH. "Loss of function of renal Glut2 reverses hyperglycaemia and normalises body weight in mouse models of diabetes and obesity." Diabetologia.. 2022 Mar 15; Epub 2022 Mar 15.

10/14/2020
de Souza Cordeiro LM, Elsheikh A, Devisetty N, Morgan DA, Ebert SN, Rahmouni K, Chhabra KH. "Hypothalamic MC4R regulates glucose homeostasis through adrenaline-mediated control of glucose reabsorption via renal GLUT2 in mice." Diabetologia.. 2020 Oct 14; Epub 2020 Oct 14.

5/2020
Yu H, Chhabra KH, Thompson Z, Jones GL, Kiran S, Shangguan G, Low MJ. "Hypothalamic POMC deficiency increases circulating adiponectin despite obesity." Molecular metabolism.. 2020 May; 35:100957. Epub 2020 Feb 07.

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