Robert H. Lustig, MD

Robert H. Lustig, MD, is the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology.   Dr. Lustig explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin.




Series: UCSF Mini Medical School for the Public [7/2009] [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 16717]

Robert H. Lustig, MD

Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, in the Division of Endocrinology Director of the Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health (WATCH) Program at UCSF

Dr. Lustig is a nationally-recognized authority in the field of neuroendocrinology, with a specific emphasis on the regulation of energy balance by the central nervous system. He is currently investigating the contribution of biochemical, neural, hormonal, and genetic influences in the expression of the current obesity epidemic both in children and adults. He has defined a syndrome of vagally-mediated beta-cell hyperactivity which leads to insulin hypersecretion and obesity, and which is treatable by insulin suppression. This phenomenon may occur in up to 20% of the obese population. He is interested in the hypothalamic signal transduction of insulin and leptin, how these two systems interact, and how hyperinsulinemia contributes to leptin resistance.

He is studying the cardiovascular morbidity associated with hyperinsulinemia, and developing methods to evaluate and prevent this phenomenon in children. He is also analyzing the contribution of the autonomic nervous system to insulin secretion and insulin resistance in obese children, and the utility of assessing insulin dynamics in targeting obesity therapy. Lastly, he is researching the role of specific macronutrients in fomenting liver insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome, both in childhood and before birth.

Dr. Lustig graduated from MIT, and received his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College. He performed his pediatric residency at St. Louis Children's Hospital, and his clinical fellowship at UCSF. From there, he spent six years as a post-doctoral fellow in neuroendocrinology at The Rockefeller University in New York.

Dr. Lustig has authored over 85 research articles and 45 chapters.  He is the former Chairman of the Obesity Task Force of the Pediatric Endocrine Society, a member of the Obesity Task force of The Endocrine Society, and on the Steering Committee of the International Endocrine Alliance to Combat Obesity. He is the Editor of the volume "Obesity before birth: maternal and prenatal effects on the offspring.

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ARTICLES

UCSF’s Lustig Discusses the Role of Fructose in Pediatric Obesity

“Childhood obesity: behavioral aberration or biochemical drive? Reinterpreting the First Law of Thermodynamics”
came out on August 12, 2006, coverage listed below.
Read Robert H. Lustig's journal review article
Read San Francisco Chronicle article
Obese? A 'poisoned' food supply may be to blame, UCSF expert says Doctor has yet to test theory that sugar triggers a starvation reaction in the brain
Listen to KQED Forum appearance
Assesses a recent hypothesis on obesity, and how sugar may trigger a starvation reaction in the brain
On the Spot: Dr. Lustig Responds UCSF Today

Contact Information

University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, CA 94143
Source: http://www.chc.ucsf.edu/coast/faculty_lustig.htm