SBMS Trainee: Vihitaben Patel
Graduate Advisor: Dr. Clinton Rubin
Clinical Advisor: Dr. Aurora Pryor
Graduate Program: Biomedical Engineering
Email: Vihitaben.Patel@stonybrook.edu
Bio: With decreased activity level and increased consumption of fast food in the modern-day life, obesity is growing at an epidemic level globally. This is a major health concern because obesity is associated with many adverse conditions such as type II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and increased fracture risk. Current treatments for obesity mainly focus on lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise. However, morbid obesity is difficult to control just by making healthier life choices. In such cases, patients have to undergo the invasive weight loss surgeries, generally known as the bariatric surgeries. Even though these surgeries have been shown to be beneficial for weight loss, diabetes management and mortality over short term, patients have been observed to regain the weight in long term. In addition, due to extreme weight loss within a short period of time, bariatric surgeries exaggerate long-term fracture risk. Hence, the ideal treatment for obesity would be a non-invasive measure that can simultaneously control obesity and diabetes outcomes and improve bone health over a long period of time. My research focus is to study the effects of low intensity and high frequency mechanical stimulation, as an element of exercise, on obesity, diabetes and bone health in a murine model and compare it to existing clinical gold standard of bariatric surgeries.
