"Hormonal Regulation and Integration of Feeding, Metabolism and Reproduction in Fish"

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The vision of my research program is to better understand how hormones regulate food intake, metabolism and reproduction in fish. My research in the past has made significant contributions in characterizing a large number of hormones in fish. The long-term goal of my research is to discover new hormones and their functions. I hypothesize that feeding, metabolism, and reproduction are interlinked by novel hormones (eg: ghrelin, peptide YY) in fish. The short-term objectives of the research proposed here are to (i) identify how hormones regulate metabolism and reproduction, (ii) study what mechanisms these hormones use to elicit its functions, and (iii) to develop strategies to effectively utilize hormones to induce growth and spawning in fish. Using zebrafish and goldfish, widely used models for this type of research, I will employ a number of cutting-edge research techniques to study hormonal regulation of fish metabolism and reproduction. I anticipate these novel hormones to have significant biological effects in fish. My research will characterize important novel molecules in fish. In addition, this research will validate combination of hormones and diets as potential strategies in aquaculture for improving fish yield. The results of the research outlined here will provide (i) significant additional information that will enhance our knowledge about the hormonal regulation of food intake, metabolism and reproduction in fish, and (ii) is strongly expected to benefit fisheries and aquaculture to promote growth and reproduction of cultured fish.