Research Themes

Metabolic Resilience

How do organisms remain functional under chronic and repeated stress? While sustained nutrient imbalance causes pathology in most mammals, some species tolerate prolonged exposure without loss of tissue integrity or organismal performance. By investigating these systems, we aim to uncover the cellular and tissue-level mechanisms that stabilize physiology across timescales. Understanding how metabolic resilience is built provides insight into health, disease, and the evolutionary strategies organisms use to persist in changing environments.

What you eat matters: How diet shapes evolution

Diet is a powerful evolutionary force that structures the metabolic challenges organisms face. We study how differences in nutrient availability, composition, toxicity, and access shape physiology by altering how nutrients are acquired, digested, and assimilated. By comparing species across dietary niches, we investigate how variation in food acquisition and gut function modulates systemic nutrient exposure and constrains downstream metabolic responses.

Living with stress: Immunometabolic control of tissue stability

Sustained metabolic challenge places pressure on tissues over time. Metabolic and immune systems interact to regulate inflammation, tissue maintenance, and recovery under these conditions. We investigate immune–metabolic interactions that favor tolerance, repair, and long-term stability rather than pathology. By focusing on systems that maintain balance under chronic stress, we aim to uncover principles that protect tissues and preserve organismal function.

From fuel to function: Nutrient signaling and organismal coordination

Nutrient-derived signals originate in the gut and are distributed systemically, shaping energy availability and blood flow across tissues, including the brain. Neural and hormonal systems integrate this metabolic state to coordinate behavior and physiology. We study this metabolic–neural interface to understand how energy acquisition and allocation are translated into organismal function, and how these coordination mechanisms have shaped mammalian evolution.

Fieldwork

Fieldwork is essential for understanding metabolic resilience, as it reveals how organisms experience diet and environmental variation in the contexts that shape physiology, health, and adaptation.

Natural variation in diet, activity, and environment creates metabolic challenges that cannot be fully reproduced in laboratory settings. By integrating field-based observations with experimental approaches, we place cellular and tissue-level mechanisms within the biological contexts in which they evolved. Our lab approaches fieldwork with an awareness of the historical and social dimensions of biological research in biodiverse regions. We prioritize collaborative research practices that involve local scientists and institutions from the outset, including shared development of research questions, training, and open exchange of expertise. These collaborations ensure that research outcomes align with local scientific interests and contribute to sustained research capacity. Through this partnership-based approach, fieldwork becomes a foundation for rigorous and responsible science. It strengthens experimental interpretation, fosters long-term collaborations, and supports a more inclusive and globally connected scientific community.

  • Trinidad team

  • Alexa in Bush Bush Sanctuary, Trinidad

  • Bat bar

  • Richard and Rochelle at Mt. Tamana, Trinidad

  • Mobile lab in Belize

  • Andrea using cutlass in Trinidad