Dr. Georgia Balsevich
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Research. I am interested in understanding the crosstalk between energy balance and stress regulation by identifying underlying shared mechanisms. In the Hill lab, I was specifically investigating glucocorticoid-endocannabinoid signaling mechanisms that regulate whole body energy metabolism by using a combination of molecular, genetic, and pharmacological approaches. I now work with Genome Alberta as the Manager of Project Development.
Hobbies. In my free time, I love to be on the move, be it in the city running and cycling, or in the mountains hiking & skiing.
Favourite paper. I cannot pick just one because too many papers have inspired my research over the years, which is continuously evolving. However, a favourite pick from the last two years is “Activation of AMPK-Regulated CRH Neurons in the PVH is Sufficient and Necessary to Induce Dietary Preference for Carbohydrate over Fat” (Okamoto et al, 2018; PubMed link). I like this paper because the authors pinpoint a cell-specific molecular mechanism to explain a highly complex behaviour in order to help us understand why food preference shifts in response to the environmental context (i.e. metabolic states and stress).
Publications
SELECT PUBLICATIONS A Role for Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase (FAAH) in the Leptin-mediated Effects on Feeding and Metabolism Balsevich G, Sticht MA, Bowles NP, Singh A, Lee TT, Li Z, Chelikani P, Lee FS, Borgland SL, Hillard CJ, McEwen BS, Hill MN (2018) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 115(29), 7605-7610. LINK Stress-responsive FKBP51 regulates AKT2-AS160 signaling and metabolic function Balsevich G, Häusl AS, Meyer CW, Karamihalev S, Feng X, Pöhlmann ML, Dournes C, Uribe-Marino A, Santarelli S, Labermaier C, Hafner K, Mao T, Breitsamer M, Theodoropoulou M, Namendorf C, Uhr M, Paez-Pereda M, Winter G, Hausch F, Chen A, Tschöp MH, Rein T, Gassen NC, Schmidt MV (2017) Nature Communications, 8(1), 1725 LINK Endocannabinoids: Effectors of Glucocorticoid Signaling Balsevich G, Petrie GN, Hill MN (2017) Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology 47, 86-108 LINK Full list of publications Awards
- 2019: Awarded Alberta Innovates Postgraduate Fellowship - 2018: Awarded Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, most prestigious and competitive fellowship of those offered by the Canadian Federal Government - 2018: Awarded Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Postdoctoral Fellowship, ranked 1st out of 1071 applications submitted, declined - 2017 – 2018: Elected Director of Events, The Postdoctoral Association, University of Calgary, Calgary - 2017: Awarded Postdoctoral Presentation Award, International Cannabinoid Research Society - 2016: Awarded Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship - 2015 – 2016: Elected PhD representative for the Max Planck Society, Munich, Germany - 2014: Awarded Young Investigator Award at the 27th European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Congress Berlin - 2012: Selected member of the International Max Planck Research School-LS, Munich, Germany - 2011: Awarded NSERC CGSM Scholarship education
I completed my BSc in Biochemistry at the University of Saskatchewan before receiving my MSc in Neuroscience from the University of British Columbia. I then moved to Munich, Germany for my PhD in order to work with Dr. Mathias Schmidt at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry where I investigated molecular mechanisms contributing to disease susceptibility. Indeed my current research interests have been shaped by my past research experience, which span molecular, cellular, and systems-level examination of stress-related pathophysiologies. |
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Research funded by Brain Canada, BONF, CFI, CIHR, NIH and NSERC. Many thanks to the University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Mathison Centre, and Alberta Children's Hospital for their support.
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