Dr. Kaja Falkenhain Receives 2024 George A. Bray Doctoral Dissertation Award at ObesityWeek

During ObesityWeek, Dr. Kaja Falkenhain, a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Leanne Redman's Reproductive Endocrinology and Women's Health Laboratory at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, was recognized with the 2024 George A. Bray Doctoral Dissertation Award.

"We are incredibly proud of Dr. Falkenhain's achievements and the recognition this award brings to her," said Dr. John Kirwan, executive director. "It's only fitting that the Bray award goes to one of our own researchers, and we are happy she's bringing it back to the Center."

Named for Pennington Biomedical legend Dr. George Bray, the award recognizes an individual for significant contributions that advance the scientific or clinical basis for understanding or treating obesity. The recognition comes with a $2,000 award and complimentary registration to ObesityWeek events, held Nov. 3-6 in San Antonio and presented by The Obesity Society.

Dr. Falkenhain's Ph.D. dissertation at The University of British Columbia, which investigated the effects of carbohydrate restriction and exogenous ketosis on cardiometabolic health, earned her the Bray Doctoral Dissertation Award.

Dr. Falkenhain received her undergraduate degree in Cognitive Sciences and Artificial Intelligence, providing a foundation around AI- and ML-based applications and research themes. Her focus is cross-disciplinary human research that investigates the metabolic and physiological effects of nutritional and lifestyle interventions, including the mechanistic underpinnings thereof. She has been a postdoctoral fellow at Pennington Biomedical since September 2023.

"We offer Dr. Falkenhain our congratulations from the entire Reproductive Endocrinology and Women's Health Lab on this honor," said Dr. Redman, associate executive director for scientific education. "Her research has already provided valuable insights of the benefits for ketogenic diets, and we look forward to how she will continue to shape the field. This is a well-deserved recognition of her scientific rigor and illuminates her potential for future successes."

About the Pennington Biomedical Research Center

The Pennington Biomedical Research Center is at the forefront of medical discovery as it relates to understanding the triggers of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and dementia. Pennington Biomedical has the vision to lead the world in promoting metabolic health and eliminating metabolic disease through scientific discoveries that create solutions from cells to society. The center conducts basic, clinical, and population research, and is a campus of the LSU System.

The research enterprise at Pennington Biomedical includes over 530 employees within a network of 44 clinics and research laboratories, and 13 highly specialized core service facilities. Its scientists and physician/scientists are supported by research trainees, lab technicians, nurses, dietitians, and other support personnel. Pennington Biomedical is a state-of-the-art research facility on a 222-acre campus in Baton Rouge.

For more information, see www.pbrc.edu.

Provided by Louisiana State University