Current Laboratory Members

Claude Bouchard, Ph.D.

Claude Bouchard is the Executive Director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and the George A. Bray Chair in Nutrition. He holds a B.Ped. (Laval University), a M.Sc. (University of Oregon, Eugene) in exercise physiology and a Ph.D. (University of Texas, Austin) in population genetics.

His research deals with the genetics of adaptation to exercise and to nutritional interventions as well as the genetics of obesity and its co-morbidities. He has authored and coauthored several books and more than 900 scientific papers.

Among other awards, he was the recipient of the Honor Award from the Canadian Association of Sport Sciences in 1988, a Citation Award from the American College of Sports Medicine in 1992 and the Honor Award in 2002, the Benjamin Delessert Award in nutrition from France in 1993,  Belgium award of Officer of the Order of Leopold II in 1994, the Willendorf Award from the International Association for the Study of Obesity in 1994, the Sandoz Award from the Canadian Atherosclerosis Society in 1996, the Albert Creff Award in Nutrition of the National Academy of Medicine of France in 1997, the TOPS award from the North American Association for the Study of Obesity in 1998, the W. Henry Sebrell Award from the Weight Watchers Foundation in 1999, and of a Honoris Causa Doctorate in Science from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in 1998. 

He is a foreign member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium since 1996, and was the Leon Mow Visiting Professor at the International Diabetes Institute in Melbourne in 1998.  He received the 2005 Earle W. Crampton Award in Nutrition from McGill University.  In 2001, he became a member of the Order of Canada as well as Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University.   In 2003 he received the Alumnus of the Year Award from Laval University and in 2005 he became a Knight in the Ordre National du Quebec. 

Dr. Bouchard is past president of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity and the president of the International Association for the Study of Obesity (2002-2006).  Prior to coming to Pennington, he held the Donald B. Brown Research Chair on Obesity at Laval University where he was the Director of the Physical Activity Sciences Laboratory for about 20 years.   His research has been funded by various agencies in Canada and the USA, but mainly by the National Institutes of Health. 

Tuomo Rankinen, Ph.D.

Dr. Tuomo Rankinen is an assistant professor with the Human Genomics Laboratory, with an MSc and PhD in clinical nutrition from the University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland. He has also completed postdoctoral work in human genetics at Université Laval in Sainte-Foy, Quebec.

Dr. Rankinen’s research has focused on the health effects of physical activity and diet, with special emphasis on the genetic and molecular basis of human variation in responsiveness to regular exercise training. Another area of interest is the gene-physical activity and gene-obesity interaction effects on cardiovascular risk factors, especially blood pressure and other hemodynamic phenotypes. His findings have been published in more than 140 scientific and professional papers, including several on the role of genes on blood pressure and cardiorespiratory fitness.

In 2001, he was the recipient of the New Investigator Award from the American College of Sports Medicine. Dr. Rankinen is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and a member of the American Physiological Society, the American Heart Association’s Council of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, and the Council of Nutrition, Metabolism and Physical Activity, and the International Atherosclerosis Society.

Margarita Teran-Garcia, M.D. Ph.D.

Dr. Teran-Garcia received her M.D. in 1989 and finished her residency in pediatrics in 1995.  She then received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas in Nutritional Studies with an emphasis on metabolism and nutrient-gene interactions.  Dr. Teran-Garcia has co-authored several articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Diabetes, Diabetologia, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Pediatric Research, and American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  She is currently an Associate Scientist with the Human Genomics Laboratory and has performed micro-arrays, genome-wide scans and association studies related to the pre-diabetic phenotypes in the HERITAGE Family Study and has participated in the analysis of data from the classic long-term Quebec twin overfeeding study. Her research has focused on genotype/phenotype interactions related to insulin sensitivity/resistance and  exercise training responses. Other research interests include gene-environment interactions and the metabolic syndrome.

Dr. Teran-Garcia is often asked to give seminars or presentations as an invited speaker at international meetings.  Some of her most recent presentations include: " Childhood Obesity: Hallway for Diabetes Mellitus?" at the XVI Congreso Internacional de Pediatria, "Diabetes in Children and Adolescents" at the Sociedad Cientifica Venezolana de Obesologia and Sociedad Venezolana de Endocrinologia, and "Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome: Candidate genes and chromosomal positions" at the Sociedad Mexicana de Nutricion y Endocrinologia and North American Association for the Study of Obesity.

Kathryn Redd

Kathryn Redd has been a research associate at PBRC since November 2001 and in the Human Genomics Lab since October 2004.   She has a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from Southeastern Louisiana University May 2000, and one year of graduate studies.  The majority of her work consists of DNA extraction, and quantification, SNP genotyping, as well as general lab maintenance.

Christina Riley

Christina Riley, a Shreveport, LA native and a LSU alumnus with a B.S. in Chemistry, has been working here in the Human Genomics Laboratory since August of 2001.  At one point, she was known for “living” in the cell culture room for at least 6 hours a day. She has spent most of her time caring for the hundreds upon hundreds of cell lines here in our lab.  She also performs daily tasks such as SNP genotyping, DNA extraction, and microsatellite typing, just to name a few.  And of course, lab organization is first priority with her as well.  She enjoys maintaining a safe, clean and effective work environment for all to enjoy.

Adrian Stuetz, Ph.D.

Adrian Stuetz studied biology/genetics at the University of Vienna, Austria, Europe and got his masters degree (Mag.rer.nat) in 1999. The practical work resulting in the diploma-thesis was performed in the Novartis Research Institute GmbH, Vienna, Austria in the lab of Dr. Maximilian Woisetschlaeger. There he learned general molecular biological methods/skills enabling him to study the regulation of the IgE germline promoter, an important early step in allergic reactions.

He continued to work in the same lab on his Ph.D thesis with the focus on the identification of novel genes involved in the allergic inflammation in the lung. This resulted in his Ph.D degree (Dr.rer.nat) at the Vienna University, Austria in 2003. He continued to work in the same lab on his Ph.D thesis with the focus on the identification of novel genes involved in the allergic inflammation in the lung. This resulted in his Ph.D degree (Dr.rer.nat) at the Vienna University, Austria in 2003.

In 2004 he started to work as a postdoctoral fellow at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA in the lab of Dr. George Argyropoulos where he continued to study the gene transcription on the promoter level of a gene associated in obesity.

In 2006, he joined the lab of Drs. Claude Bouchard and Tuomo Rankinen to determine associations between SLC4A5 DNA sequence variation and hemodynamic phenotypes in the HERITAGE Family Study.

Jessica Watkins

Jessica Watkins is a research associate with the Human Genomics Laboratory at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center. She received her BSc in chemistry from Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge campus in May of 2001 and joined the lab immediately afterwards.  Jessica’s responsibilities include assay optimization and SNP genotyping, DNA extraction & quantification, and microsatellite genotyping.  Occasionally she is involved in DNA sequencing as well as cell culture from time to time.  Her duties also include maintenance of the DNA bank inventory and DNA plating, as well as implementing various other lab organization tasks.

Nina Laidlaw

With a BA in English from LSU, Nina has written manufacturer's manuals and grant applications and served as a production editor with a biochemistry journal before coming to PBRC. She maintains this website along with other tasks in her role as technical assistant to Dr. Bouchard.