{"id":4074,"date":"2016-10-19T15:19:30","date_gmt":"2016-10-19T19:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/52.229.122.34\/en\/?p=4074"},"modified":"2021-02-17T11:01:18","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T16:01:18","slug":"top-research-trainee-finds-molecular-connection-between-obesity-and-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/uncategorized\/top-research-trainee-finds-molecular-connection-between-obesity-and-anxiety\/","title":{"rendered":"Top research trainee finds molecular connection between obesity and anxiety"},"content":{"rendered":"

Postdoctoral fellow Dr. Zhaohong (Tina) Qin\u2019s passion for mental health research led her to discover that the brain\u2019s pathways for anxiety and obesity are linked, opening up possibilities for new treatments.<\/em><\/p>\n

Some days Dr. Zhaohong (Tina) Qin has to remind herself to leave the lab and go home. She becomes so absorbed in watching neurons fire that she loses track of time.<\/p>\n

\u201dYou apply the drug and you can see the change right away,\u201d said the postdoctoral fellow at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa. \u201cI love it so much \u2013 nothing else makes me feel so alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Qin was no stranger to research when she immigrated to Canada 11 years ago. In China she worked in the pharmaceutical industry, discovering new drugs and finding different ways to diagnose diseases.<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch in mental health has the first place in my mind and heart,\u201d Dr. Qin explained. \u201cOne of my best friends died by suicide. I want to use my skills to help treat these challenging conditions that affect so many people.\u201d<\/p>\n

During her PhD in Dr. Hsiao-Huei Chen<\/a>\u2019s lab, Dr. Qin made a surprising discovery. She found that a drug called trodusquemine, which controls weight gain, could also relieve anxiety in mice. This meant that somehow the brain pathways for anxiety and obesity were linked.<\/p>\n

Right away, Dr. Qin wanted to find out why. After many additional tests and experiments, she found the reason: an enzyme called PTP1B. When it is overactive, this enzyme helps cause both anxiety and obesity. The drug trodusquemine lets the brain fix itself by bringing the levels of PTP1B back to normal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our hope that this exciting finding can move to the clinic, and that this drug can be used to fight two diseases at once,\u201d said Dr. Qin.<\/p>\n

But Dr. Qin isn\u2019t stopping there. She\u2019s currently investigating whether this drug can also treat other mental health conditions that involve overactive PTB1B, such as Alzheimer\u2019s disease and schizophrenia.<\/p>\n

Praised by her colleagues for her strength, drive, independence and determination, Dr. Qin has published 12 research articles, many in high-impact journals such as Neuron <\/em>and Journal of Neuroscience. <\/em>Despite her successes, she will be the first to admit that a career in neuroscience can also be challenging.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to get frustrated when experiments fail, but I cannot give up,\u201d said Dr. Qin. \u201cIf I want my research to help people, it can\u2019t just stay in the lab.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Qin has been selected as the hospital\u2019s top research trainee of the year. She will be presented with the Worton Researcher in Training Award at The Ottawa Hospital Gala on Nov. 5.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Postdoctoral fellow Dr. Zhaohong (Tina) Qin\u2019s passion for mental health research led her to discover that the brain\u2019s pathways for anxiety and obesity are linked, opening up possibilities for new treatments. Some days Dr. Zhaohong (Tina) Qin has to remind herself to leave the lab and go home. She becomes so absorbed in watching neurons […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":4075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}