125 Paterson Street, Room 7120
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Email: habibur.rahman[at]rutger.edu

From the beginning of my graduate-level research, I have always been interested in understanding the relationship between metabolism and immunology, and its implications in neurobiology and metabolic diseases. I obtained my bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Bangladesh University and have recently graduated with a Ph.D. in biomedical science from Kyungpook National University (KNU), South Korea. My graduate training at KNU began by investigating the relationship between metabolic and immunological factors involved in the pathogenesis of peripheral diabetic neuropathy. I identified that a key regulatory mitochondrial enzyme, pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK), mediates a glycolytic metabolic shift in the dorsal root ganglion and has a critical role in the pathogenesis of painful diabetic neuropathy. These findings led me to investigate the role of PDK in the central nervous system following diabetes and obesity that it similarly has a  key role in metabolic reprogramming and the inflammatory activation of astrocytes.

I joined the Buettner lab to continue my training and investigating the role of hypothalamic inflammation in disrupting brain control of metabolism and immunity.