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Douglas Spitz, PhD

Contact Information

Office: B180-E ML 
Faculty Profile


Brief description of current research:

My lab continues to have interest in the role that metabolic oxidative stress plays in the pathogenesis of diabetes and obesity, insulin growth factor signaling and cancer biology, and the relationship of these phenomena to aging as well as radiation-induced normal tissue injury.

3 most influential diabetes/obesity/metabolism publications:

  • Kim H-S, Patel K, Muldoon-Jacobs K, Bisht KS, Aykin-Burns N, Pennington JD, van der Meer R, Nguyen P, Savage J, Owens KM, Vassilopoulos A, Ozden O, Park S-H, Singh KK, Abdulkadir SA, Spitz DR, Deng C-X, and Gius D: SIRT3 is a mitochondrial localized tumor suppressor required for maintenance of mitochondrial integrity and metabolism during stress. Cancer Cell 2010; 17:41–52. PMID: 20129246 PMCID: PMC3711519
  • Zahra A, Fath MA, Opat E, Mapuskar KA, Bhatia SK, Ma DC, Rodman SN, Snyders TP, Chenard CA, Eichenberger-Gilmore JM, Bodeker KL, Ahmann L, Smith BJ, Vollstedt SA, Brown HA, Abu Hejleh T, Clamon GH, Berg DJ, Szweda LI, Spitz DR, Buatti JM, and Allen BG. Consuming a ketogenic diet while receiving radiation and chemotherapy for locally advanced lung and pancreatic cancer: the University of Iowa experience of two phase I clinical trials. Radiat. Res. 2017; 187(6):743-754. doi: 10.1667/RR14668.1. PMID: 28437190
  • Mapuskar KA, Flippo KH, Schoenfeld JD, Riley DP, Strack S, Abu Hejleh T, Furqan M, Monga V, Domann FE, Buatti JM, Goswami PC, Spitz DR, and Allen BG: Mitochondrial superoxide increases age-associated susceptibility of human dermal fibroblasts to radiation and chemotherapy. Cancer Res. 2017; 77(18):5054-5067. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-17-0106. PMID: 28765155.