Posted 10/14/2008

Study will probe gene linked to weight gain

A doctoral candidate at the Arnold School has begun a two-year study of the FTO gene, a newly discovered gene thought to be responsible for weight gain in some individuals.

Andrey Bortsov

Andrey Bortsov, who works for the Center for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities, said the study “will look at how the effect of the FTO-genotype on weight gain may interact with behavior such as dietary fat intake and physical activity.”

An understanding of that interaction could lead to customized diet and exercise interventions that could work against individuals becoming obese, Bortsov said.

A $40,000 grant from the American Heart Association is supporting Bortsov’s study that also is the basis of his doctoral dissertation.

He is seeking a Ph.D. in epidemiology, an important milestone toward “my life goal of becoming an academic researcher.”

Collaborating with him are researchers at Wake Forest University, the University of Colorado and the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.

Bortsov will analyze data already collected from two related studies sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

One, the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study (IRAS), includes about 1,600 non-Hispanic white, Hispanic and African American unrelated individuals. A second, the IRAS Family Study, consists of 132 Hispanic and African American families. Together the studies total about 3,500 persons.

Bortsov has spent most of his academic career at USC in the Center for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities. The center's director is Dr. Angela Liese, who also is his doctoral advisor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. She is the faculty mentor of the AHA predoctoral grant.

Liese, who is a longtime member of the American Heart Association, said that Bartsov’s success is a great accomplishment.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to work with Andrey. His achievement is really a reflection of the level of scientific investment and independence that we as faculty strive to promote in the course of a doctoral program,” she said.

A native of St. Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city, Bortsov earned a medical degree from the St. Petersburg Pavlov State Medical University in 1999.

Afterward he specialized in public health, working as a researcher at his alma mater, one of Russia’s leading medical schools.

A doctorate in epidemiology seemed the next logical step in Bortsov’s career, so he applied at a number of universities in the U.S. After careful consideration, he decided on the Arnold School where he has found “a wonderful environment.”

Bortsov says that working on the FTO study will keep him busy for the immediate future. Afterwards, he will likely “try to find a post doc opportunity and get more training.”