Moshmi Bhattacharya

Affiliations & Leadership

• Core Member, Child Health Institute of NJ, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Rutgers, The State University of Rutgers (formerly UMDNJ), New Brunswick, NJ

2017-present

• Associate Member 1, Cancer Metabolism and Growth Program, Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ

2017-present

• Scientist, Center for Lipid Research and Institute for Food Nutrition and Health, New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 2017-present
• Member, Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Graduate Program in Molecular Biosciences, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 2017-present

Academic Appointments

• Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Nutrition, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, Associate Professor (tenure-track)

8/2017-present

• Associate Professor, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, The University of Western Ontario, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, London, ON, Canada, 2005-2017

Education and Training

• Postdoctoral Fellow, The Robarts Research Institute, Ontario, Canada, Cell Biology and Neuroscience, 2000-2004
• Ph.D. Pharmacology & Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1996-2000
• BSc (Honors, Natural Sciences), The University of West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad, West Indies, 1990-1994

Select Honors and Awards

• New Investigator Salary Award, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Federal) 2010-2016
• University Faculty Award, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Federal), 2005-2010
• Postdoctoral Scientist Award, 1^st Prize Winner, Great Lakes GPCR Conference Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2003
• Postdoctoral Scientist Award, 1^st Prize Winner,  American Society for Pharmacological and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET), Experimental Biology 2003
• Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Federal)

2000-2003

• Melville Prize in Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1998

Research Interests

Our laboratory is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms by which G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), targets of 34% of all pharmaceutical drugs, regulate health and disease. On going research projects include studying the role of the GPCR, kisspeptin receptor in diabetes, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and liver cancer. MASLD impacts over one billion individuals globally and is a leading cause of liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma). These translational, multidisciplinary studies are conducted using various pre-clinical and clinical models.

Select Publications

• Kisspeptin Alleviates Human Hepatic Fibrogenesis by Inhibiting TGFβ Signaling in Hepatic Stellate Cells. Prasad K, Bhattacharya D, Shams S, Izarraras K, T, Mayfield B, Blaszczyk MB4, Zhou Z, Pajvani U, Friedman S, Bhattacharya M Cells; 13(19):1651 (2024). PMID: 39404414
• Targeting hepatic kisspeptin receptor ameliorates non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Guzman S, Dragan M, Kwon H, de Oliveira V, Rao S, Bhatt V, Kalemba K, Shah A, Rustgi V, Wang H, Bech P, Abbara A, Izzi-Engbeaya C, Manousou P, Guo Y, Guo G, Radovick S, Dhillo W, Wondisford F, Babwah A *Bhattacharya M. Journal of Clinical Investigation; 132: e145889 (2022). PMID: 35349482
• G protein-coupled kisspeptin receptor induces metabolic reprograming and tumorigenesis in estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer. Dragan M, Nguyen M-U, Guzman S, Goertzen C, Brackstone M, Dhillo WS, Bech PR, Clarke S, Abbara A, Tuck AB, Hess DA, Pine S, Zong W-X, Wondisford FE, Su X, Babwah AV, Bhattacharya M. Nature Cell Death & Dis. 11(2):106 (2020). PMCID: PMC7005685

Biography Link:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1vA5GNF5gcO96D/bibliography/public

Media

https://www.rutgers.edu/news/kisspeptin-new-drug-treat-liver-disease