Alexander Sorisky
Senior Scientist Emeritus, Inflammation & Chronic Disease
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Active Attending Medical Staff, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism
The Ottawa Hospital
Professor, Department of Medicine and Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology
University of Ottawa
Research Interests
Obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease risk
Adipose progenitor cell fate
Adipocyte biology
Insulin signal transduction
Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) signal transduction
Brief Biography
Dr. Alexander Sorisky received his medical degree from McGill University in 1982, and completed the postgraduate program in Medical Biochemistry and Internal Medicine at McGill University and University of Ottawa in 1987. He undertook Endocrinology & Metabolism training at the University of Vermont (completed 1989), and continued there as a research fellow supported by MRC (now CIHR), in the Departments of Biochemistry and of Pathology and Molecular Genetics, until 1993. He returned to Canada, and established his clinical activities and research program in Ottawa in 1993.
He is now Professor of Medicine and of Biochemistry, Microbiology & Immunology, and Chair, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Ottawa. He is also Senior Scientist and Director of the Chronic Disease Program of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute at The Ottawa Hospital. His awards include a Medical Research Council of Canada Scholar (1994-1999), a Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario Career Investigator (2000-2005), and a Premier's Research Excellence Award of Ontario (2000-2003). He currently holds a University of Ottawa Department of Medicine Mid-Career Research Award (2009-2014).
Dr. Sorisky's research interest is cell-surface receptor signal transduction in the context of adipose cell responses, such as differentiation, proliferation, survival, and adipokine production. His research group uses primary human adipose cells from patients and established cell lines to understand how disturbances in adipose cell signal transduction networks, regulated by cell-surface tyrosine kinase or G protein-coupled receptors, result in metabolic malfunction such as insulin resistance and inflammation. Through this line of inquiry, he aims to understand the molecular processes that link adipose tissue dysfunction with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Selected Publications
Gagnon A, Antunes TT, Ly T, Pongsuwan P, Gavin C, Lochnan HA, Sorisky A. TSH-stimulates lipolysis in adipocytes in culture and raises serum free fatty acid levels in vivo. Metabolism 59:547-553, 2010.
Molgat ASD, Gagnon A, Sorisky A. Macrophage-induced preadipocyte survival depends on signaling through Akt, ERK1/2, and reactive oxygen species. Exp Cell Res 317:521-530, 2011.
Sorisky A, Molgat ASD, Gagnon A. Macrophage-induced adipose tissue dysfunction and the preadipocyte: should I stay (and differentiate) or should I go? Adv Nutr 4:67-75, 2013.
Gagnon A, Foster C, Landry A, Sorisky A. The role of interleukin-1β in the anti-adipogenic action of macrophages on human preadipocytes. J Endocrinol 217:197-206, 2013.
Gagnon A, Langille ML, Chaker S, Antunes TT, Durand J, Sorisky A. TSH signaling pathways that regulate MCP-1 in human differentiated adipocytes. Metabolism 63:812-821, 2014.
Note: This is not a complete list of publications. More publications are available via the Pubmed link under the tab "Publications"Diseases, conditions and populations of interest
Research and clinical approaches
