Associate Professor
Endowed Title: The Diana and Richard C. Strauss Professorship in Biomedical Research; Mr. and Mrs. Bruce G. Brookshire Professorship in Medicine
Department: Internal Medicine, Psychiatry
Graduate Programs: Integrative Biology
Dr. Zigman grew up in New Jersey and performed undergraduate studies at Cornell University. He obtained a dual MD-PhD degree from the University of Chicago, and remained in Chicago to complete an Internal Medicine residency. Dr. Zigman next moved to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, where he completed a fellowship in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. It was in Boston, while working under the mentorship of Drs. Joel Elmquist and Jeffrey Garber, where Dr. Zigman’s research and clinical interests in the hormone ghrelin and thyroid nodular disease, respectively, first arose. Dr. Zigman is currently an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, where he is affiliated with the Division of Hypothalamic Research and the Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism. He holds a secondary appointment in the Dept. of Psychiatry and also is affiliated with the Integrative Biology Graduate Program. His clinic primarily focuses on the treatment of individuals with thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer. Dr. Zigman’s research is geared primarily toward the study of the peptide hormone ghrelin and its effects on eating behaviors and mood.
| Medical School | University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine (1997) |
| Internship/Residency | University of Chicago Hospitals (2000), Internal Medicine |
| Fellowship | Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (2003), Endocrinology & Metabolism |
Featured Publications
Ghrelin directly stimulates glucagon secretion from pancreatic alpha-cells.
Chuang JC, Sakata I, Kohno D, Perello M, Osborne-Lawrence S, Repa JJ, Zigman JM Mol. Endocrinol. 2011 Sep 25 9 1600-11
Ghrelin mediates stress-induced food-reward behavior in mice.
Chuang JC, Perello M, Sakata I, Osborne-Lawrence S, Savitt JM, Lutter M, Zigman JM J. Clin. Invest. 2011 Jul 121 7 2684-92
Zhao TJ, Sakata I, Li RL, Liang G, Richardson JA, Brown MS, Goldstein JL, Zigman JM Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2010 Sep 107 36 15868-73
Ghrelin increases the rewarding value of high-fat diet in an orexin-dependent manner.
Perello M, Sakata I, Birnbaum S, Chuang JC, Osborne-Lawrence S, Rovinsky SA, Woloszyn J, Yanagisawa M, Lutter M, Zigman JM Biol. Psychiatry 2010 May 67 9 880-6
Colocalization of ghrelin O-acyltransferase and ghrelin in gastric mucosal cells.
Sakata I, Yang J, Lee CE, Osborne-Lawrence S, Rovinsky SA, Elmquist JK, Zigman JM Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab. 2009 Jul 297 1 E134-41
Shift in Kiss1 Cell Activity Requires Estrogen Receptor a.
Frazão R, Cravo RM, Donato J, Ratra DV, Clegg DJ, Elmquist JK, Zigman JM, Williams KW, Elias CF J. Neurosci. 2013 Feb 33 7 2807-20
Differential effects of chronic social stress and fluoxetine on meal patterns in mice.
Kumar J, Chuang JC, Na ES, Kuperman A, Gillman AG, Mukherjee S, Zigman JM, McClung CA, Lutter M Appetite 2013 Jan 64C 81-88
Disruption of cue-potentiated feeding in mice with blocked ghrelin signaling.
Walker AK, Ibia IE, Zigman JM Physiol. Behav. 2012 Dec 108 34-43
Egerod KL, Engelstoft MS, Grunddal KV, Nøhr MK, Secher A, Sakata I, Pedersen J, Windeløv JA, Füchtbauer EM, Olsen J, Sundler F, Christensen JP, Wierup N, Olsen JV, Holst JJ, Zigman JM, Poulsen SS, Schwartz TW Endocrinology 2012 Dec 153 12 5782-95
GOAT induced ghrelin acylation regulates hedonic feeding.
Davis JF, Perello M, Choi DL, Magrisso IJ, Kirchner H, Pfluger PT, Tschoep M, Zigman JM, Benoit SC Horm Behav 2012 Nov 62 5 598-604