Dr. David M. Mutch
Assistant Professor
Email: dmutch@uoguelph.ca
Office: ANNU 348
Ext: 53322
Lab: ANNU 308
Ext: 58015
Profile | Education | Research | Publications | Grad Students | Links
Profile
When I finished my undergraduate degree, I was offered an exciting opportunity to spend 6 months at the Nestlé Research Centre in Switzerland. And I found out that Nestlé does far more than just make good chocolate! Nestlé introduced me to the exciting field of nutrigenomics, i.e. the study of diet-gene interactions and how nutrition can influence a person’s health. This fascinating and rapidly-evolving field gave me the chance to integrate various scientific disciplines into my research, ranging from nutrition to molecular biology to functional genomics to bioinformatics. My initial 6 month position with Nestlé ended up becoming a 6 year stay, which included doing my PhD in collaboration with the University of Lausanne. I then moved to a laboratory at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in San Diego for a post-doctoral position. During my short time in San Diego, I discovered the power of global metabolite profiling (i.e. metabolomics) and its utility for the study of obesity. I quickly recognized the potential of combining nutrigenomics and metabolomics for the study of human obesity. To obtain a greater understanding of this common metabolic disease, I moved to France for a second post-doctoral position with the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM). Here, I used gene expression and metabolite profiling to study the impact of both diet- and surgical-induced weight loss on adipose tissue function. A large component of my research was related to a European Project called DiOGenes, an acronym standing for Diet, Obesity and Genes (http://www.diogenes-eu.org/). This multi-centre project reinforced to me that modern nutrition is a truly integrative science! In January 2009, I joined the Department of Human Health & Nutritional Sciences at the University of Guelph to establish a nutrigenomics research program focused on studying how dietary lipids regulate adipocyte metabolism, and contribute to the development of obesity and its downstream complications.
Education
B.Sc. – Queen’s University ( Canada)
Ph.D. – University of Lausanne ( Switzerland)
Research
Over the past thirty years the prevalence of both adult and childhood obesity has steadily increased to epidemic proportions. Lifestyle interventions (i.e. caloric restriction and increased physical activity) remain the most common recommendation for controlling obesity; however, the rate of success is wholly dependent on the individual. As such, alternate approaches must be considered and tested if we are to turn the tide in our fight against obesity. Nutrigenomics is poised to have a considerable impact on the prevention and treatment of obesity by recommending lifestyle modifications based on an individual’s genetic information. My research program is focused on understanding how dietary lipids can affect adipose tissue function using several modern approaches such as: 1) Genetics - to determine whether polymorphisms in genes involved in lipid metabolism are associated with obesity-related phenotypes, 2) Transcriptomics - to elucidate how different dietary lipids affect gene expression and function, and 3) Metabolomics - to identify novel biomarkers that can be used to assess the efficacy of dietary interventions in order to better personalize health management. Integrating these approaches will provide additional information to help understand why individuals respond differentially to dietary interventions.
Selected Publications
Merino DM, Johnston H, Clarke S, Roke K, Nielsen D, Badawi A, El-Sohemy A, Ma DWL, and Mutch DM. 2011. Polymorphisms in FADS1 and FADS2 alter desaturase activity in young Caucasian and Asian adults. Mol Genet Metab. 103 (2): 171-8.
Stryjecki C and Mutch DM. 2011. Dietary fatty acids, adipokines, and obesity. Eur J Clin Nutr. 65 (3): 285-97.
Mutch DM, Fuhrmann JC, Rein D, Wiemer JC, Bouillot JL, Poitou C, Clément K. 2009. Metabolite profiling identifies candidate markers reflecting the clinical improvements associated with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. PLoS ONE; 4: e7905.
Mutch DM, Tordjman J, Pelloux V, Hanczar B, Henegar C, Veyrie N, Poitou C, Zucker JD, and Clément K. 2009. The impact of needle and surgical biopsy techniques on the functional interpretation of subcutaneous adipose tissue gene expression profiles. Am J Clin Nutr. Jan; 89(1):51-7.
Mutch DM, Temanni MR, Henegar C, Combes F, Pelloux V, Holst C, Sørensen TIA, Astrup A, Martinez JA, Saris WHM, Viguerie N, Langin D, Zucker JD, and Clément K. 2007. Adipose gene expression prior to weight loss can differentiate and weakly predict dietary responders. PLoS ONE; 19; 2(12): e1344.
Mutch DM, Wahli W, and Williamson G. 2005. Nutrigenomics and Nutrigenetics: The emerging faces of nutrition. The FASEB J Oct; 19(12): 1602-1616.
Grad Students/Post-Docs
I am seeking motivated and enthusiastic students who are interested in nutrigenomics and obesity research. If you would like to learn more about available positions, please contact me.
Post-doctoral researchers are encouraged to send their curriculum vitae; however, it is expected that applicants acquire independent funding. Please don't hesitate to contact me for further details.
Current Lab Members
J. Ralston (PhD student)
M. Perreault (MSc student)
B. Shaw (MSc student)
S. Wilson (Research Assistant)
M. Wong (PhD student in Mathematics and Statistics)
M. Zulyniak (PhD student)
Teaching
NUTR*3210 Fundamentals of Nutrition
NUTR*4350 Current Issues in Nutrition/Lifestyle Genomics
Funding
My research program is currently funded by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI).