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Center for Human Genomics at Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Barbara Nicklas, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine
Section on Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine

B.S.E., 1983 N.E. Missouri State University, Kirksville, MO
M.S., 1987 Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Ph.D.,1994 University of Maryland, College Park, MD

Major research interests:

I am a clinical investigator in the fields of aging, obesity and exercise physiology. My research focuses on the effects of genetic variation on aging-related changes in body composition, including sarcopenia and abdominal obesity, and on physical disability, energy expenditure and lipid metabolism in the elderly. I also studies the metabolic and hormonal adaptations to exercise training and weight loss in older individuals.

Current research projects include the measurement of the interactions of gene polymorphisms with behavior and medication use in determining physical function and body composition outcomes and incidence of disability in a 7-year observational study of 3000 healthy 70-79 yr olds. Another project measures the biological and genetic markers of inflammation in a randomized, clinical trial of diet and exercise in older men and women with knee osteoarthritis. A new study, designed to determine whether diet and high-intensity aerobic exercise, compared to diet alone or diet with low-intensity exercise, will augment the loss of abdominal fat and improvements in cardiovascular disease risk factors due to differential adaptations in abdominal, relative to gluteal, adipose tissue in obese postmenopausal women, will begin in the spring of 2002.

Selected Publications

Nicklas, B.J., R.E. Ferrell, D.M. Berman, L.B. Bunyard, K.E. Dennis, A.P. Goldberg. Apolipoprotein E genotype affects dietary-induced reductions in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in obese, postmenopausal women. Metabolism, 2001.

Ryan, A.S., B.J. Nicklas, D.M. Berman, and R.E. Ferrell. The insertion/deletion polymorphism of the ACE gene is related to insulin sensitivity in overweight women. Diabetes Care, 24:1646-1652, 2001.

Nicklas, B.J., L. VanRossum, D.M. Berman, A.S. Ryan, K.E. Dennis, A.R. Shuldiner. Genetic variation in the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma gene (Pro12Ala) affects metabolic responses to weight loss and subsequent weight regain. Diabetes, 49:2172-2176, 2001.

Berman, D.M., L.R. Rodrigues, B.J. Nicklas, A.S. Ryan, K.E. Dennis, and A.P. Goldberg. Racial disparities in metabolism, central obesity and sex hormone-binding globulin in postmenopausal women. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., 86: 97-103, 2001.

Lynch, N.A., B.J. Nicklas, D.M. Berman, K.E. Dennis, A.P. Goldberg. Reductions in visceral fat during weight loss and walking are associated with improvements in VO2max. J. Appl. Physiol., 90:99-104, 2001.

Nicklas, B.J., E.M. Rogus, D.M. Berman, K.E. Dennis, and A.P. Goldberg. Responses of adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase to weight loss affect lipid levels and weight regain in women. Am. J. Physiol., 279:E1012-E1019, 2000.

Nicklas, B.J., R.E. Ferrell, E.M. Rogus, A.S. Ryan, D.M. Berman, K.E. Dennis, and A.P. Goldberg. Lipoprotein lipase gene variation is associated with adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase activity, and lipoprotein lipid and glucose concentrations in obese, postmenopausal women. Human Genetics, 106:420-424, 2000.

Nicklas, B.J., D.C. Davis, C. Lynne Dobrovolny, K.E. Dennis. Racial differences in metabolic predictors of obesity among postmenopausal women. Obesity Research, 7:463-468, 1999.

Nicklas, B.J., A.S. Ryan and L.I. Katzel. Lipoprotein subfractions in women athletes: effects of age, visceral obesity, and aerobic fitness. Int. J. Obesity, 23: 41-47, 1999.

Berman, D.M., B.J. Nicklas, E.M. Rogus and A.P. Goldberg. Regional differences in adrenoceptor binding and fat cell lipolysis in obese, postmenopausal women. Metabolism, 47:467-473, 1998.

Nicklas, B.J., E.M. Rogus and A.P. Goldberg. Exercise blunts declines in adipocyte lipolysis and fat oxidation after dietary-induced weight loss in obese, postmenopausal women. Am. J. Physiol., 273:E149-E155, 1997.

Ryan, A.S., B.J. Nicklas and D. Elahi. A cross-sectional study on body composition and energy expenditure in women athletes during aging. Am. J. Physiol., 271:E916-E921, 1996.

Nicklas, B.J., E.M. Rogus, E.G. Colman and A.P. Goldberg. Visceral adiposity, increased abdominal and gluteal adipocyte lipolysis and metabolic dysfunction in obese, postmenopausal women. Am. J. Physiol., 270:E72-E78, 1996.