Biography

Dr. Xinfu Guan is an Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Endocrinology in Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine; and a faculty member at the USDA Children's Nutrition Research Center. After he obtained his Ph.D. degree from Michigan State University, Dr. Guan completed his post-doctoral fellowship at the USDA Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine.After his fellowship training, Dr. Guan has been appointed a tenure-track faculty at Baylor College of Medicine and a nutrition scientist (principal investigator) at the USDA Children’s Nutrition Research Center. His research interests are to understand the molecular control of glucose homeostasis & energy balance; define metabolic actions & signaling networks of gut hormones on gut growth and function; and to ameliorate glucose intolerance & insulin resistance in obesity and diabetes and improve intestinal absorption deficiency in short bowel syndrome. Specifically, his research objectives are to elucidate the gut-brain-liver axis in the control of energy balance (feeding behavior, food intake, and gastrointestinal motility) and glycemic control (glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity). His recent work is focused on intestinal epithelialgrowth (adaptation & regeneration) and metabolic function; and hypothalamic-brainstem neuroendocrine control of peripheral glucose metabolism. His research work has been funded by the NIH, the USDA, and private foundations. His laboratory has made significant progress in establishing the functional relevance and signaling network of gut hormones (namely glucagon-like peptide-2) and receptors in the control of energy balance and glucose homeostasis. Over the years, Dr. Guan’s work has identified that GLP-2 enhances intestinal circulation, glycolysis & protein synthesis (Gastro 2003); GLP-2R is localized to distinct types of cells in the gut (Gastro 2006); GLP-2R interacts with p85α (the PI3K regulatory subunit)(Cell Metab 2013). Using his newly generated Glp2r-specific knockout mice, Dr. Guan’s laboratory has defined that Glp2r in the hypothalamus controls feeding behavior, gastrointestinal motility, and glucose homeostasis (AJP Endo 2012; Cell Metab 2013). Dr. Guan has been selected for the 2006 Peter Reeds Outstanding Young Investigator Award by the American Society for Nutrition; the 2007 Outstanding Young Investigator Award by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; and the 2012 New Investigator Awardin the Neural Control & Autonomic Regulation by the American Physiological Society. Dr. Guan is reviewer for prestigious journals such as the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Gastroenterology, Endocrinology, American Journal of Physiology, and Journal of Nutrition etc. In addition, Dr. Guan has served on editorial boards of multiple international journals and as a scientific reviewer for the ADA grants.