Robin Clugston - Directory@UAlberta.ca

Contact

Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry - Physiology Dept

Email: clugston@ualberta.ca

Overview

Area of Study / Keywords

vitamin A physiology biochemistry nutrition liver lipids alcohol developmental biology diaphragm

About

Member, Women's and Children's Health Research Institute

Academic Editor, PLOS One

Research

Vitamin A (retinoid) homeostasis in health and disease

Vitamin A is an essential dietary micronutrient that has important functions in maintaining a healthy body. One of the active metabolites of dietary vitamin A is retinoic acid, which signals through nuclear receptors to control the expression level of more than 500 genes. The large number of retinoic acid-target genes confers on it important roles in many cellular processes, including cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. The overall goal of the Clugston laboratory is to better understand the importance of altered retinoic acid signaling in human health and disease.

The Clugston lab currently has three major research tracks, all centered around understanding different aspects of vitamin A’s metabolism and action. These tracks are: 1) basic vitamin A metabolism, 2) the role of altered vitamin A homeostasis in liver disease, and 3) the role of altered vitamin A signaling in the development of the mammalian diaphragm and its importance in the birth defect, congenital diaphragmatic hernia.