Research Interests
- Systems biology; molecular nutrition; genomics; metabolomics; bioinformatics; nutritional programming of adipose tissue; mammary gland development; lipid metabolism; conjugated linoleic acids (CLA); nutritional and physiological genomics; comparative genomics; regulation of milk fat and protein synthesis; nutritional regulation of muscle development.My research program focuses on the study of how nutrition, physiological state and their interaction affect tissue function and metabolic adaptations through alterations in the transcriptome, i.e. mRNA expression profiles. We rely heavily on cutting-edge technologies such as microarrays, DNA sequencing, quantitative RT-PCR, and bioinformatics to generate biologically-meaningful data. The integration of these data sets is at the core of our Systems Biology efforts in Nutritional Sciences. We use large animals as primary models but also perform more fundamental studies with animal tissue cell lines or explant cultures. Through the use of high-throughput techniques and bioinformatics we intend to identify genes that might be associated with susceptibility to immune and metabolic diseases (e.g. hepatic steatosis, mastitis) and also to developing obesity.
Education
- Ph.D., 2001, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg
- M.S., 1997, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg
- B.S., 1995, University of California, Davis
Additional Campus Affiliations
Professor, Animal Sciences
Professor, Nutritional Sciences
Professor, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Recent Publications
Chang, R., Chen, Y., Xu, X., Jia, H., Mauck, J., Loor, J. J., Meir, Y. A. B., Xu, Q., Sun, X., & Xu, C. (2026). Free fatty acids induce apoptosis in mammary epithelial cells from ketotic dairy cows via endoplasmic reticulum stress. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 25(5), 2014-2027. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jia.2024.12.023
Chang, Y., Jia, B., Si, Y., Zhang, Z., Liu, J., Gao, Y., Wang, J., Wang, Y., Loor, J. J., Zhang, B., & Yang, W. (2026). Proteomics and Metabolomics Reveal Novel Impacts of Choline Supply on Calf Hepatocytes Experiencing Accumulation During a Fatty Acid Challenge. Metabolites, 16(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo16070451
Fernández, C., Carro, M. D., Barrero-Domínguez, B., Roldán, R., Moya, V. J., & Loor, J. J. (2026). Effect of feeding almond hulls on energy partitioning, nutrient balance, milk yield, and methane emissions in lactating dairy goats. Journal of Dairy Science, 109(2), 1332-1346. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2025-27115
Incharoen, T., Foiklang, S., Inyawilert, W., Rattanapradit, P., Likittrakulwong, W., Moonmanee, T., Loor, J. J., & Laorodphan, N. (2026). Dietary Cassava Roots Modified by Heat-Moisture Treatment Improve Performance, Glucose Metabolism, and Carcass Yield in Fattening Goats. Veterinary Medicine International, 2026(1), Article 1557007. https://doi.org/10.1155/vmi/1557007
Incharoen, T., Likittrakulwong, W., Singanusong, R., Charoensook, R., Tartrakoon, W., & Loor, J. J. (2026). Dietary gamma-oryzanol and vitamin E tocotrienols mitigate the negative impacts in laying hens reared under high stocking density. Journal of Animal Science and Technology, 68(3), 758-772. https://doi.org/10.5187/jast.2024.e73