Brain researcher receives ADA’s Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award

NEW ORLEANS — Tamas L. Horvath, DVM, PhD, the Jane and David W. Wallace Professor of Biomedical Research, professor and chair of comparative medicine, and professor of neuroscience and obstetrics and gynecology at Yale University School of Medicine, received the 2016 Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award from the American Diabetes Association.

The award is given to a researcher who “demonstrates particular independence of thought and originality.” Horvath’s work focuses on neuronal circuitries that support homeostatic conditions in the body, including reproduction, energy metabolism and neurodegeneration. Some of his discoveries have led to an understanding of the role of neuropeptide Y and pro-opiomelanocortin neurons in regulating food intake, whole body metabolism and glucose homeostasis; how the plasticity of brain circuitry is necessary for responding to peripheral metabolism; and the effects of maternal diet and insulin action on the metabolic health of offspring.

Endocrine Today spoke with Horvath about his interest in reproduction brought him to endocrinology.

What was the defining moment that led you to your field?

I was working on a hypothalamic circuitry that was thought to be involved in control of reproduction, but we hypothesized in 1992 that it may play a role in appetite control. The hypothesis was supported by the subsequent discovery of leptin in 1994-1995 and the role of hypothalamic melanocortin signaling pathway in obesity in 1997. Thus, we continued our investigations regarding the pathway we discovered in 1992 in relation to systemic metabolism.

What area of research most interests you right now and why?

I am very much interested in understanding how systemic metabolism, acting through the hypothalamus, affects complex behaviors, mental illness and neurodegenerative disorders.

What has been the greatest challenge in your professional career thus far?

The greatest challenge has always been to convince our peers (and ourselves) that a discovery is relevant for biology and/or disease. For example, when we found that synaptic plasticity is part of the brain’s adaptive response to the changing metabolic environment, it was received with great skepticism, so was the observation that mitochondrial dynamics are relevant for neuronal responses to metabolic signals. This is, however, a healthy process that strengthens the rigor of research.

What do you think will have the greatest influence on your field in the next 10 years?

Discovery of how individual variability in physiology and diseased glucose metabolism emerges independent of genetics.

What advice would you offer to a student going into endocrinology today?

This field will become a dominant force in many medical disciplines, including psychiatry as metabolic/mitochondrial principles are clearly emerging as drivers of the emergence and maintenance of many of these mental disorders.

What are your hobbies/interests outside of work?

I like company of good people, food and playing squash.

Disclosure: Horvath reports no relevant financial disclosures.