
Jeffrey Zigman, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Endowed Title Kent and Jodi Foster Distinguished Chair in Endocrinology, in Honor of Daniel Foster, M.D.; 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 Genetics, Development and Disease, Neuroscience
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Biography
Dr. Zigman grew up in New Jersey and performed undergraduate studies at Cornell University. He obtained a dual M.D.-Ph.D. degree from the University of Chicago and remained there 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 interests in the hormone ghrelin and the CNS control of eating, body weight, and blood glucose and where his clinical interests in thyroid nodular disease and thyroid cancer first arose.
Dr. Zigman is a Professor of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern, where he is affiliated with the Center for Hypothalamic Research, the Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism, and the Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute. He holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and also is affiliated with the Neuroscience Graduate Program and the Genetics, Development & Disease Graduate Program. Dr. Zigman is also the Chair of the Molecular Metabolism and Metabolic Diseases (3MD) Graduate Track.
Dr. Zigman’s clinic primarily focuses on the treatment of individuals with thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer.
Dr. Zigman’s research is geared toward understanding the neuro-hormonal framework underlying metabolism. In particular, the Zigman lab focuses on how gastrointestinal hormones such as ghrelin and LEAP2 interact with the brain, peripheral nervous system, and various peripheral organs such as pancreatic islets and the pituitary to control eating, body weight, blood glucose, responses to exercise, islet function and mood. Conditions studied by the lab include obesity, diabetes, hypoglycemia, cachexia, Prader-Willi Syndrome, depression, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Dr. Zigman is proud to mentor a diverse team composed of students, postdoctoral fellows, junior faculty, research scientists, and clinicians. All are welcome within the Zigman lab without regard to race, religion, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, body weight, disability, or other non-merit criteria.
Education
- 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
Research Interest
- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- Brain-gut axis
- Cancer cachexia
- Diabetes and hypoglycemia
- Enteroendocrine cell function
- Ghrelin secretion and ghrelin action
- islet biology
- Metabolic responses to Excercise
- Neuro-hormonal framework linking complex eating behaviors to mood
- Obesity and eating behavior
- Prader-Willi Syndrome
Publications
Featured Publications
- Acyl-ghrelin is Permissive for the Normal Counterregulatory Response to Insulin-induced Hypoglycemia.
- Shankar K, Gupta D, Mani BK, Findley BG, Lord CC, Osborne-Lawrence S, Metzger NP, Pietra C, Liu C, Berglund ED, Zigman JM, Diabetes 2019 Nov
- LEAP2 changes with body mass and food intake in humans and mice.
- Mani BK, Puzziferri N, He Z, Rodriguez JA, Osborne-Lawrence S, Metzger NP, Chhina N, Gaylinn B, Thorner MO, Thomas EL, Bell JD, Williams KW, Goldstone AP, Zigman JM, J. Clin. Invest. 2019 Aug
- Ghrelin Receptor Agonist Rescues Excess Neonatal Mortality in a Prader-Willi Syndrome Mouse Model.
- Rodriguez JA, Bruggeman EC, Mani BK, Osborne-Lawrence S, Lord CC, Roseman H, Viroslav HL, Vijayaraghavan P, Metzger NP, Gupta D, Shankar K, Pietra C, Liu C, Zigman JM Endocrinology 2018 Oct
- Ghrelin mediates exercise endurance and the feeding response post-exercise.
- Mani BK, Castorena CM, Osborne-Lawrence S, Vijayaraghavan P, Metzger NP, Elmquist JK, Zigman JM Mol Metab 2018 Jan
- Ghrelin as a Survival Hormone.
- Mani BK, Zigman JM Trends Endocrinol. Metab. 2017 Dec 28 12 843-854
- The role of ghrelin-responsive mediobasal hypothalamic neurons in mediating feeding responses to fasting.
- Mani BK, Osborne-Lawrence S, Mequinion M, Lawrence S, Gautron L, Andrews ZB, Zigman JM Mol Metab 2017 Aug 6 8 882-896
- ?1-Adrenergic receptor deficiency in ghrelin-expressing cells causes hypoglycemia in susceptible individuals.
- Mani BK, Osborne-Lawrence S, Vijayaraghavan P, Hepler C, Zigman JM J. Clin. Invest. 2016 Sep 126 9 3467-3478
- 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
- Ghrelin secretion stimulated by {beta}1-adrenergic receptors in cultured ghrelinoma cells and in fasted mice.
- 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
- The orexigenic hormone ghrelin defends against depressive symptoms of chronic stress.
- Lutter M, Sakata I, Osborne-Lawrence S, Rovinsky SA, Anderson JG, Jung S, Birnbaum S, Yanagisawa M, Elmquist JK, Nestler EJ, Zigman JM Nat. Neurosci. 2008 Jul 11 7 752-3
Books
Featured Books
Obesity. In Pocket Primary Care
Zigman J (2001). Philadelphia, Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkins
Mechanisms of homeostatically regulated behaviors. In Neuroscience in the 21st Century
Elmquist J, Zigman J, Saper C. (2011). Berlin, Springer-Verlag GmbH
Honors & Awards
- Election to the Association of American Physicians
(2021) - Ken and Jodi Foster Distinguished Chair in Endocrinology, in Honor of Daniel Foster, M.D.
UT Southwestern Medical Center (2016) - Top Doctor
Castle Connolly (2015) - Patricia Usher Memorial Lecture Speaker
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (2014) - Class of 2014 (MS2) Outstanding Teaching Award
UT Southwestern Medical Center (2012) - Election to the American Society for Clinical Investigation
(2012) - Mr. and Mrs. Bruce G. Brookshire Professorship in Medicine
UT Southwestern Medical Center (2012) - The Diana and Richard C. Strauss Professorship in Biomedical Research
UT Southwestern Medical Center (2012) - Class of 2013 (MS2) Outstanding Teaching Award 2010-2011
UT Southwestern Medical Center (2011) - Top Doctor
U.S. News & World Report (2011) - Class of 2013 (MS1) Outstanding Teaching Award in Physiology
UT Southwestern Medical Center (2010) - Disease-Oriented Clinical Scholar
UT Southwestern Medical Center (2006-2009) - Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Golden Key National Honor Societies
Cornell University (1989)
Professional Associations/Affiliations
- Association of American Physicians (2021)
- Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (2019)
- American Society for Clinical Investigation (2012)
- American Thyroid Association (2009)
- The Endocrine Society (2009)
- The Obesity Society (2008)
- American Diabetes Association (2004)
- American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (2000)