Textbook of Energy Balance, Neuropeptide Hormones, and Neuroendocrine Function

thyroid hormone also affect the maturation of PC1 and PC2. This tightly regulated mechanism to produce biologically active peptides turns out to be true for most peptide hormones produced in the hypothalamus. A breakthrough study from his laboratory in the biology of leptin was that aside from regulating peptide hormone expression, leptin also controls pro-hormone processing by regulating PC1 and PC2. This novel concept was introduced in 2004 to the obesity field, which provided the basis for many studies conducted today in other laboratories. His laboratory in collaboration with his colleagues at Harvard University also demonstrated for the first time that leptin regulates the TRH and POMC genes expression through activation of the STAT3 signaling pathway. His laboratory showed for the first time that the Diacetyl enzyme Sirt1 present in the hypothalamus operates as a nutrient sensor involved in the regulation of food intake. He also revealed that endoplasmic reticulum stress, developed in the hypothalamus of the obese, prevents the proper protein folding and processing of POMC, which is an essential anorectic precursor to maintain body weight in check.

Through his active 26 years at Brown, Dr. Nillni trained more than 50 undergraduate students in their independent study class. He has mentored summer interns, numerous graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. He was an executive member of the Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry PhD graduate program and also a member of the PhD and MD/PhD admission committees. In addition to undergraduate courses, Dr. Nillni taught for 18 years a graduate class on protein processing and trafficking, a subject on cell biology that did not exist at the Molecular and Cellular Biology graduate program. Dr. Nillni has published more than 75 manuscripts including reviews and chapter books. He was on the editorial board of various prestigious scientific journals, and has been a reviewer for nineteen journals including Nature, Cell, Journal of Biological Chemistry and Journal of Clinical Investigation. He was also a member of several national and international review committees including the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health Study Sections for more than 20 years, an activity that continues until today.