Samer El-Kadi

Synopsis:

As a nutritionist, the principal objective of Dr. El-Kadi's research program is to determine how nutritional cues interact with physiological mechanisms that regulate muscle growth in growing animals.

Description:

Dr. El-Kadi's research is centered on investigating the dietary and physiological factors that control muscle growth in neonatal animals, and whether nutritional manipulations could be used to enhance growth in the perinatal period. To achieve these goals, his lab is using a multifaceted approach that combines molecular and metabolic techniques to elucidate the mechanisms that control protein deposition in muscles. The aim of this research program is to identify areas where novel dietary ingredients or management approaches could be used to enhance growth and improve the efficiency with which nutrients are deposited in muscles.

El-Kadi is currently pursuing three areas of research: the first is focused on elucidating the effects of feeding frequency on protein accretion in skeletal muscles of the neonate; the second is aimed at understanding the relationship between growth failure in low-birthweight neonatal animals and the development of metabolic disorders later in life, the third is the evaluation of dietary supplements in infant formulas. His lab using the pig as an agriculturally important species and as a model for human infants.