Neuroscientist studying brain control of homeostasis; Associate Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center

Joined August 2017
34 Photos and videos
Pinned Tweet
9 Aug 2025
Bittersweet to send off @LiLi_Phd2017 as he steps into his new role as a tenure-track Assistant Professor! After his PhD with @JohnSpeakman4, Li became a cornerstone of our lab—leading key projects, setting many “firsts” (postdoc fellowship, Seldin Award, career development award, and more), and inspiring junior fellows like @Baijie_Xu to follow suit. Can’t wait to see the new discoveries from his own lab. Good luck, Li—reach out anytime, and visit often! #ProudMentorMoment @UTSWInternalMed @UTSWNeurosci @UTSWBrain @utswpda
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Congrats to Joel on election to the National Academy of Sciences! Deeply grateful for your mentorship, guidance, and support over the years. Great to see fellow colleagues at UT Southwestern recognized as well—congratulations to all.
Congratulations to Elizabeth Chen, Ph.D., Ralph DeBerardinis, M.D., Ph.D., and Joel Elmquist, D.V.M., Ph.D., on their election to @theNASciences. UTSW now has 27 NAS members, more than all other institutions in Texas and the most in UT Southwestern history.
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Congrats to @Baijie_Xu on receiving the 2026 AHA Career Development Award! True resilience. Selected last year, but the award was rescinded due to visa timing during the government shutdown. Undeterred, he returned with stronger data and earned it again. #ProudMentorMoment 👏
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Excited to share new work by @Baijie_Xu and @LiLi_Phd2017, out today in @NeuroCellPress (shorturl.at/wDEZU). We identify a developmental fate switch in the brain shaping lifelong obesity risk. @UTSWNews @UTSWInternalMed @UTSWBrain @UTSWNeurosci @UTSWScience 1/🧵👇

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In today’s high-fat, high-sugar world, this same mechanism backfires, increasing vulnerability to obesity. Blocking the switch blunts hyperphagic responses to high-fat diets, highlighting how developmental programs shape adult metabolic health. 9/
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Huge congrats to the whole team, especially @Baijie_Xu on a second major discovery in just two years! So well deserved and wishing you every success as this work adds momentum to your ongoing faculty search. 10/
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Chen Liu retweeted
Online now: Developmental reprogramming in melanocortin neurons modulates diet-induced obesity in mice dlvr.it/TR09gY
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19 Dec 2025
Our 2025 holiday door decoration is up! 🎄🎅 Credit to our incredibly talented lab manager, @swativarshney19, and the team for bringing it to life. Wishing everyone a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year! ✨ @UTSWNeurosci @UTSWBrain @UTSWInternalMed
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✨This Thursday, to close this Neurometabolic Seminar Series season 2025 in style, we’re thrilled to welcome @ChenLiuLab from UT Southwestern! Dr. Liu will share recent findings from his lab on the developmental origins of obesity!🧑‍🏫 Register here: forms.gle/ZzKRKo8Tiayej4br5
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22 Jul 2025
🎉Huge congrats to @Baijie_Xu on the @AHAScience Career Development Award! In times of uncertainty, moments like this make it all worthwhile—watching trainees take bold steps toward independence. #ProudMentorMoment 💪@UTSWInternalMed @UTSWNeurosci @UTSWBrain @utswpda
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20 May 2025
Always an honor to have our work recognized by students—truly grateful! Excited to visit this summer and connect in person.
📢The Neurometabolism Seminars return for the upcoming summer and we are thrilled to announce our speakers’ lineup!👩‍🔬🧑‍🔬 The seminars will take place every Thursday at 11:00 EST, online, from May 29th to July 31st. To register, please complete this form: forms.gle/JGexQ2cstwuLP9dz9
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15 Jan 2025
Interestingly, our collaborators identified other individuals from the UK Biobank carrying LOF mutations in OTP. All were obese or described as "plumper" in childhood. This suggests OTP LOF mutations may be linked to common obesity, but larger studies are needed. 11/
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15 Jan 2025
Congrats to both teams! Grateful for our amazing collaborators, especially JKE and Kathy Mountjoy, for their invaluable support. We are recruiting new students and postdocs—visit chenliulab.us to learn more! End/
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