Bio

Dr. Cordoba-Chacon earned a PhD in 2011, from the University of Cordoba, Spain. His graduate research was supported by a fellowship from the Spanish Institute of Health Carlos III (4 years) and focused on the role of somatostatin, cortistatin, and ghrelin in the control of pituitary hormone production, including how these peptides regulate growth hormone (GH) synthesis and release. LINK TO PHD DISSERTATION.

Based on his productivity during his graduate studies and his focus on GH, he was recruited to the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) as a post-doctoral fellow, to study how GH controls whole-body and liver metabolism, studies funded by NIH and VA grants (Kineman, PI).  Notably, his postdoctoral studies were also supported by competitive grants awarded directly to him, based on his achievements, that included a Spanish Foundation “Alfonso Martin Escudero” Fellowship, Endocrine Society/Genentech Scholarship for GH Research, and Chicago Biomedical Consortium Postdoctoral Research grant .  He was extremely productive during his predoctoral and postdoctoral training (2009 and 2017), publishing 36 peer-reviewed scientific articles and 5 review articles. Of these publications, he was the first author of 13 scientific articles and 1 review article and corresponding author of 2 scientific articles. These publications included high-profile journals such as Diabetes, Endocrinology, and American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology and Metabolism.

In 2018, as an Assistant Professor to the division (tenure track), he obtained a 5-year K01 Career Development Award funded by the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney diseases (K01DK115525, 2018-2022). His K01 grant focused on understanding how the nuclear receptor, PPARg, regulates hepatocyte function.  Data generated with this award demonstrated activation of hepatocyte PPARg, can counteract the beneficial effects of a class of drugs, TZD, commonly used to treat diabetes, by promoting the progression of steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).  This work was recognized by an Early Career Development Award of the Central Society for Clinical and Translational Research (2020-2021). This work also served as the foundation for his recent award, as principal investigator, of two research grants funded by NIDDK to study how PPARg negatively regulates the metabolism of methionine in hepatocytes to promote the progression of NASH: R03DK129419 (06/2022 – 05/2024) and R01DK131038 (02/2022 – 01/2027).  Dr. Cordoba-Chacon is also pursuing another line of investigation to examine the hepatic specific actions of conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) to control glucose levels, that was in part funded by a pilot research grant he received from the Diabetes Research and Training Center (2019-2021). From this pilot grant he generated exciting preliminary data showing a diet rich in CLA protects against the development of hyperglycemia, despite steatosis.

In addition to his independent research projects, Dr. Cordoba-Chacon collaborates with multiple groups within UIC and outside of UIC, lending his expertise in diet-induced mouse models of NASH and evaluation of liver pathology and metabolic dysfunction associated with NASH progression. At UIC, he serves as a co-investigator with Dr. Song, Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition (R01AA030255, 2022-2027, 2% effort), and with Dr. Kineman, Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology (VA Merit I01 BX004448, 2023-2027, 10% effort).  Outside of UIC, he has cultivated activate collaborations with multiple investigators in Spain, with his contributions leading to manuscripts under review and supporting their successful grant applications (Dr. Barbarroja, Assistant Professor, IMIBIC, Spain (PI20-00079, 2020-2024; 1381035-F, 2022); Dr. Gahete, Associate Professor, IMIBIC, Spain (PEMP-0036-2020, 2021-2023), Dr. Diaz-Ruiz, Assistant Professor, IMDEA, Spain (PID2019-106893R-I00, 2020-2023). This international effort serves to widen Dr. Cordoba-Chacon’s circle of influence, and spotlight UIC’s high quality research endeavors.  In addition, he served as a consultant on a pilot study with Dr. Dichtel, Assistant Professor, Harvard, Boston MA (2019-2021, Clinical Endocrinologist).

Publications and Presentations (updated on June 2023): As an independent investigator, Dr. Cordoba-Chacon continues to have an excellent publication record with 17 scientific articles and 2 review articles, published since promotion to Assistant Professor. He is the leading/corresponding author of 5 scientific articles and 1 review article.  These publications include prestigious peer-reviewed journals such as Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences (2023) and Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology (2021). He is also co-author of work published in high profile journals: Nature Communications (2022), Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (2022), Aging Cell (2021), PNAS (2019), and Cell Reports (2018).  He also has 6 additional manuscripts in preparation or currently under consideration in peer-review journals.

Clearly, his independent research work is being recognized by the greater scientific community, since he has been invited to present seminars at institutions outside of UIC: Maimonides Institute for Biomedical Research of Cordoba, Spain; and University of Cordoba, Spain (2018), Biomedical Research Institute of Malaga, Spain (2019), Cervantes Institute, Chicago, IL (2021), Rising Stars Symposium in Diabetes and Obesity Day, held at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (2022), University of California Davis, CA; and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX (2023), and the Annual Endocrine Society’s meeting (2023).

Research grants/awards
2022 R01DK131038 (02/2022-01/2027) PPARgamma-regulated mechanisms in hepatocytes that promote NAFLD – NIH

2022 R03DK129419 (06/2022-05/2024) Regulation of methionine metabolism in NASH by PPARgamma – NIH

2020 Early Career Development Award. Central Society for Clinical and Translational Research. WI.
2019 UI Health Diabetes Research Philanthropic Fund. UIC.
2019 P30-DK020595 AWD035726-03 (2019-2021) Suppression of hepatic glucose production by conjugated linoleic acid isomers. University of Chicago, Diabetes Training and Research Center
2018 K01DK115525 (02/2018-12/2022) Hepatocyte PPARgamma regulated mechanisms in NAFLD and lipid homeostasis – NIH
2015 PDR-033 Postdoctoral Research Award. Chicago Biomedical Consortium, Chicago. IL.
2014 Endocrine Scholar Award in Growth Hormone research. Endocrine Society, Washington, DC.

2012 Postdoctoral Fellowship. Alfonso Martin Escudero Foundation, Madrid, Spain.

2007 Predoctoral Fellowship. Institute of Health “Carlos III”, Spain.

Editorial Board Appointments
2022-present Editorial Board. Endocrinology. Endocrine Society
2020-2022 Early Career Reviewer. Endocrinology. Endocrine Society
2020-present Editorial Board. BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care.

Committee Assignments and Administrative Services
2022 Reviewer Abstracts – ENDO2022 Annual meeting of the Endocrine Society
2022-present Co-Director of UI Health Diabetes Community Outreach. Department of Medicine. UIC.
2021 Ad hoc reviewer. CSME-CSR NIH October 12th-13th 2021
2021-present Scientific member. IACUC – Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Chicago, IL
2020 Reviewer Abstracts – ENDO2021 Annual meeting of the Endocrine Society
2017-present Co-Director of Endocrinology Research Grand Rounds. Department of Medicine. UIC.
2014-2017 Scientific member. Animal Care committee (Small animal subcommittee). Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL.

Additional Honors
Faculty member

2023 Invited Speaker, Symposium, Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society (Chicago, IL).

2023 Research Experience for Graduate and Medical Students (Mentor of I Hawro). Endocrine Society, Washington, DC.

2022 Rising Star in Diabetes and Obesity Research. University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY.

2021 Poster of Distinction, American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, Alexandria, VA.

2020 Oral presentation. Endoonline 2020. Endocrine Society, Washington, DC.
2020 Summer Research Fellowship (Mentor of J. Muratalla). Endocrine Society, Washington, DC.
2020 Young investigator award. Obesity and Diabetes Research Day. UIC
2019 Outstanding Abstract Award, Endocrine Society, Washington, DC.
2019 Travel award. Central Society for Clinical and Translational Research. Milwaukee, WI.
2018 Early investigator award. Endocrine Society, Washington, DC.
2018 Summer Research Fellowship (Mentor of A. Tummala). Endocrine Society, Washington, DC.

Postdoctoral research associate
2015 Eugenia Rosenberg Abstract Award. Endocrine Society, Washington, DC.
2014 Travel award. Early Career Forum. Endocrine Society, Washington, DC.
2014 Winner of the Presidential Poster Competition. Endocrine Society, Washington, DC.
2014 Trainee travel award. Central Society for Clinical and Translational Research. Milwaukee, WI.
2012 Outstanding PhD dissertation Award of 2011, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.

Graduate student
2012 PhD dissertation Award, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.
2006 Outstanding MS in Biochemistry Award, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain