Posted on April 10, 2023 by Amanda Cerreto
Ayodeji Osidele
April 10, 2023 - Fernando Sosa ’22, a kinesiology major, and Ayodeji Osidele ’21, a biochemistry major, have both been accepted into medical school following their research assistantships with Eunhee Chung, associate professor of kinesiology.
Sosa will attend the McGovern Medical School at UT Health Houston, and Osidele will attend the Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio.
Chung runs the Molecular Exercise Physiology Lab through the Department of Kinesiology. Research in the lab focuses on two agendas: the impact of maternal diet and exercise on the cardiometabolic health of offspring, and studying diet-induced obese mouse models to better understand the role of nutritional supplementation in type 2 diabetes.
Sosa’s and Osidele’s primary work in the lab looked at metabolic and cardiovascular effects that are seen in offspring when the mothers have been exposed to different diets and exercise.
Sosa’s primary research work was to test the enzyme inhibitor that can be used for treating obesity and type 2 diabetes. His work, “Diet-Induced Obese Male Mice Treated with a Rationally Designed P450 8B1 Inhibitor for 28 Days Successfully Increased CDCA to CA Ratios but Lacked Improved Glucose Tolerance and Body Weight,” will be presented to the American Physiological Summit on April 22, 2023, in Long Beach, CA.
“Fernando is reliable, courteous, patient, and thorough in his interactions, whether training someone else or being trained,” Chung said. “He has worked very hard to get where he is, and I sure bet he will continue to do so to achieve his goals.”
When Osidele joined the lab in June 2022, they purchased major laboratory equipment, a rodent body composition analyzer and Doppler Flow Velocity System to access heart function. Osidele immediately sought out training from the company and optimized the system. He has measured cardiac systolic and diastolic function to test the hypothesis that maternal exercise will alleviate cardiac dysfunction associated with maternal obesity.
“I am delighted to see Ayodeji’s work progress,” said Chung. “I believe he will complete his medical training successfully using the knowledge and experience he learned from the research and become a fine physician someday.”
Both Sosa and Osidele credit their time in the lab for building the research skills needed to get into medical school – but encourage all students with all career aspirations to get involved with research even without prior experience.
“Don’t be afraid to ask questions,” Osidele said. “The volunteers and PIs are really interested in seeing you succeed and they want you to learn. They have a lot of knowledge and experience that they’re willing to share.”
“I was on the fence about doing research myself,” Sosa said. “but I think it really compliments your undergrad career because you get to really apply what you learn in class to the lab. It comes full circle.”
— Amanda Cerreto
