Dr. Farina Sultan is a biologist with a keen interest in understanding energy balance in various physiological and pathological conditions. Since energy is central to all biological processes, its regulation is important in directing physiological processes, and any perturbation in metabolism may result in a diseased condition. In her PhD, she identified the role of fatty acid metabolism during the physiological pigmentation process, and the fatty acid pathway as a good target to prevent post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH). In her postdoctoral research, she screened for genes involved in metabolic regulation in adipocytes and muscles during starvation.
The systemic energy balance is maintained by adipocytes, specialized tissue for fat storage. In Obesity, excessive fat accumulation by adipocytes results in chronic low-grade inflammation affecting peripheral tissues like muscles and the liver. Drug regimens for the treatment of obesity majorly focus on targeting adipocytes for modulating lipid metabolism and the nervous system for modulating appetite. Clinically, the treatment of obesity is a challenging task and is not very successful due to the associated side effects and weight regain after the removal of the therapy. A need to revisit the current treatment regime and identify new target molecules will hold the future of obesity therapeutics. The lab will be focussing on identifying key players regulating obese phenotype and screening small molecules and natural products as anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity agents.