The University of Louisville Alumni Magazine: for alumni, faculty, staff, students and anyone that is a UofL Cardinal fan.
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S U M M E R U O F L M A G A Z I N E | 1 5 H A P P E N I N G H E R E Research Body shape can say a lot about health Determining whether you are an apple or pear shape can tell you a lot about your health. Excess abdominal fat, which leads to an apple shape, can be a precursor to diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer. A person's measure of belly fat is ref ected in the ratio of waist circumference to hip circumference, and it is estimated that genetics account for about 30–60 percent of waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). Kira Taylor, PhD, MS, assistant professor, School of Public Health and Information Sciences, and her research team have identif ed f ve new genes as- sociated with increased WHR, potentially moving science closer to developing a medication to treat obesity or obesity-related diseases. One gene expressed in women only, SHC1, appears to interact with 17 other proteins known to have involvement in obesity, and is highly expressed in fat tissue. Taylor said the discovery holds opportunity for medicinal chemistry and eventually, personalized medicine. "If scientists can f nd a way to f ne-tune the expression of this gene, we could potentially reduce the risk of excessive fat in the mid-section and its consequences, such as cardiovascular disease," she said. The researchers published their f ndings in Human Molecular Genetics. Anthropology professor wins book award Anthropologist Jennie Burnet's research into wom- en's survival in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda led to a prestigious award. Burnet's book "Genocide Lives in Us: Women, Memory and Silence in Rwanda" won the Association of Africanist Anthropology's Elliott Skinner Award last year for work furthering the global community of scholars studying African cultures and exploring the wider interests of the African continent. This award gives special consideration to scholarship drawing on extensive research and f eldwork. Data analysis is an important aspect of Kira Taylor's research. U L _ 1 5 1 5 UL_15 15 6 / 2 3 / 1 4 9 : 2 5 A M 6/23/14 9:25 AM