Dr. Young's research background is built upon training that spans basic and human research in the field of neuro-cardiometabolic regulation. The primary focus of his graduate training was on the study of neural cardiovascular control in humans with an emphasis on the central mechanisms involved in autonomic nervous system control in healthy and obese, aged, kidney disease, diabetic, and hypertensive patient populations. He subsequently pursued postdoctoral training at Cornell University in the area of murine physiological genomics, which provided new opportunities for training in molecular integrative physiology, with a focus on neural mechanisms in murine models of hypertensive and metabolic diseases. Building upon this, the overarching theme of his current laboratory is centered on molecular mechanisms within the brain that mediate cardiovascular and metabolic dysfunction. In particular, his group focuses primarily on the cardiovascular/metabolic/autonomic regulatory role of neural circuits, with an emphasis on their contribution to sympathetic nervous system outflow. To accomplish this, they employ a variety of techniques in murine models including longitudinal in vivo evaluation of gene expression using fluorescent and bioluminescent reporters, whole animal cardiovascular/metabolic/autonomic physiology, in vitro and in vivo molecular biology approaches, state-of-the art in vivo manipulations of neuronal function, and cutting-edge microscopy techniques.
Research
Dr. Young's research program is broadly focused around how changes in the brain contribute to cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. This includes evaluating changes at a single cell (and single organelle) level, neural circuit evaluations, neuroanatomical and functional investigations, and ultimately integration into whole systems physiology that is relevant to clinical conditions.
Grants
| NIH 1R01DK11700 Young (PI) “Brain Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease” |
| NIH 1R01HL141393 Young (PI) “Forebrain-Hypothalamic Mechanisms in Obesity-Induced Hypertension” |
| NIH 1F31HL164059 Young (Mentor) PI: Dow (George Washington University) “The role of brain cellular senescence in the sexual dimorphism of hypertension” |
| American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship Young (Mentor) PI: Arestakesyan (George Washington University) “Astrocyte senescence hypertension” |
| American Heart Association 932522 Young (Mentor) PI: Kim (George Washington University) “Role of forebrain TLR4-mediated microglia activation in obesity-induced hypertension” |
| NIH 1F31DK122747 Young (Mentor) PI: Blackmore (George Washington University) “Forebrain-hypothalamic estrogen receptor alpha in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease” |
| American Heart Association 19CDA34630010 Young (Mentor) PI: Jeong (George Washington University) “Crosstalk between brain insulin and angiotensin-II in hypertension development” |
| George Washington University Luther Rice Undergraduate Fellowship Young (Mentor) PI: Houchen (George Washington University) “Forebrain estrogen signaling in sexual dimorphic non-alcoholic fatty liver disease” |
| Endocrine Society Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship Young (Mentor) PI: Houchen (George Washington University) “Forebrain estrogen signaling in sexual dimorphic non-alcoholic fatty liver disease” |
| George Washington Confucius Institute Shih Scholarship Young (Mentor) PI: Mishra (George Washington University) “Perception, education and practice of acupuncture in Singapore” |
| American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship Young (Mentor) PI: Hurr (George Washington University) "Role of brain toll-like receptor 4 in obesity-induced hypertension" **Award declined |
| American Physiological Society Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship Young (Mentor) PI: Judice (George Washington University) “Brain subfornical organ ER stress in angiotensin-II hypertension” |
| American Heart Association Collaborative Sciences Award 15CSA24340001 Young (Collaborator) Co-PIs: Marvar (The George Washington University), Park (Emory), Ressler (Harvard) “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Cardiovascular Disease Risk: Role of Sympathetic Overactivity and Aberrant Angiotensin Signaling” |
| George Washington University Luther Rice Undergraduate Fellowship Young (Mentor) PI: Ritchie (George Washington University) “The role of hypothalamic ER stress in transcription factor activation and obesity” |
| American Physiological Society Short-Term Research Education Program to Increase Diversity in Health-Related Research Young (Mentor) PI: Ritchie (George Washington University) “Hypothalamic ER stress induced transcription factor activation during obesity” |
| NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award NHLBI-HL166776 Young (PI) "Role of Central Neural NFκB and ER Stress in Obesity-Induced Hypertension" |
Awards
- (2005) Outstanding Graduate Student, Department of Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
- (2006-2010) Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Fellowship, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
- (2009) American College of Sports Medicine Charles M. Tipton National Student Research Award
- (2010) APS Neural Control and Autonomic Regulation Section Research Recognition Award
- (2011) Genomics Scholar Award, Cornell University Center for Vertebrate Genomics
- (2011) American Physiological Society Neural Control and Autonomic Regulation Section Michael J. Brody Young Investigator Award
- (2011) American Physiological Society Postdoctoral Fellowship in Physiological Genomics
- (2011) Caroline Coffey Award, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
- (2012) American Physiological Society Trainee Research Recognition in Physiological Genomics
- (2012) American Heart Association New Investigator Travel Award
- (2012) American Heart Association Best of AHA Award (for top 10% of all AHA abstracts)
- (2012) American Heart Association High Blood Pressure Research New Investigator Award
- (2013) American Physiological Society Water and Electrolyte Homeostasis Section Postdoctoral Research Recognition Award
- (2014) American Physiological Society Dean Franklin Young Investigator Award
- (2016) American Physiological Society Neural Control and Autonomic Regulation Section New Investigator Award
- (2016) Iowa Physiological Society Keynote Lecture
- (2017) Experimental Physiology Inaugural Review Award
- (2018) American Physiological Society Shin-Chun Wang Young Investigator Award
- (2019) American Physiological Society Physiological Genomics Young Investigator Award
- (2019) American Physiological Society Beverly Peterson Bishop Excellence in Neuroscience Award
- (2019) George Washington University SMHS Early Career Research Achievement Award
Teaching
- Graduate Program in Physiology and Pharmacology
Role: Program Co-Director - Foundations of Experimental Neuroscience (NRSC8284)
Role: Lecturer - Systems Physiology (BMSC8212)
Role: Course Director - M1: Cardiovascular, Pulmonary, and Respiratory
Role: Lecturer - Molecular Pharmacology and Neurobiology of Excitable Tissues (PHAR8281)
Role: Lecturer