Neonatology Fellow, Sean Cullen, MD, PhD, received an NIH K12 award for his study, “Regulation of Germ Cell Small RNAs and Epigenetically-Inherited Disease by Khdc3” as the 2021 March of Dimes Scholar for the Pediatric Scientist Development Program (PSDP). Dr. Cullen will be co-mentored in this project by Matthew Smith-Raska, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine and Andrea Ventura MD, PhD, Full Member of the Cancer Biology and Genetics Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Childhood obesity and its metabolic sequelae are among the most pressing current global health issues. Obesity and metabolic diseases are strongly heritable, yet our understanding of its inheritance is incomplete, as only a small percentage of gene-focused approaches have identified causative factors. For this study, Dr. Cullen will investigate the transmission of obesity and metabolic disease through the germ line by small RNAs in the sperm and oocyte. His work will focus on the role played by the Khdc3 gene in altering the small RNA component of germ cells in a murine model, particularly after exposure to a high fat diet, a known risk factor in the transmission of obesity.
The overall goal of Dr. Cullen’s study is to discern key drivers of the epigenetic inheritance of obesity and metabolic disease through germ cells, ultimately identifying potential therapeutic targets for reducing risk or severity of disease in one’s offspring.