Pennington Biomedical's Dr. Kaja Falkenhain Awarded Postdoctoral Fellowship from the American Heart Association
February 10th, 2025
Dr. Kaja Falkenhain, postdoctoral researcher at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, has been awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association. The fellowship comes with a grant of over $150,000 to be used over two years to support Dr. Falkenhain's research project, titled "Craving Control: Rewiring the Reward Circuitry of the Human Brain in the Modern Food Environment," which will study the brain's reward circuitry and ingestive behavior at the intersection of obesity medication and modern food environment.
The fellowship begins this month and will continue through the end of 2026. Grant funds provide salary support for Dr. Falkenhain as well as travel and project support. She and her team of researchers will run a study with adults who are overweight or have obesity. Participants will receive an injection of a weight loss drug or a placebo without knowing which one they got. The researchers will then use a brain scan to see how the participants' brains respond to food. They will also observe what and how much the participants eat, the types of food they select, and how they taste and enjoy their food. This will be done both in the lab and in the participants' daily lives.
"It is an honor to receive this fellowship from the American Heart Association, as their mission to pursue a 'world of longer, healthier lives' reflects the motivations in my research," said Dr. Falkenhain, who is a postdoctoral fellow in Pennington Biomedical's Reproductive Endocrinology and Women's Health Laboratory. "Today, many foods available in grocery stores are processed and high in sugar, fat, and calories. This grant will assist my research to explore how a cutting-edge medication can 'reset' the brain's response to these tempting foods that are not supportive of heart health and longevity. The ultimate goal is to break the cycle of overeating and find new ways to promote healthier living for everyone."
Dr. Falkenhain has been with Pennington Biomedical since October 2024, with a focus on cross-disciplinary human research that investigates the metabolic and physiological effects of nutritional and lifestyle interventions, including their mechanistic underpinnings. She is the recent recipient of the 2024 George A. Bray Doctoral Dissertation Award, which she received from The Obesity Society for her Ph.D. dissertation at the University of British Columbia on the effects of carbohydrate restriction and exogenous ketosis on cardiometabolic health. Dr. Falkenhain received her undergraduate degree in Cognitive Sciences and Artificial Intelligence, providing a foundation around AI- and ML-based applications and research themes.
"The entire team at Pennington Biomedical is proud of the work of Dr. Falkenhain, and we congratulate her on this fellowship and recognition from the American Heart Association," said Dr. John Kirwan, Executive Director at Pennington Biomedical. "It is our mission to understand the triggers of obesity, diabetes, cancers and cardiovascular disease, so it is fitting that one of our postdoctoral researchers is recognized via this fellowship by the American Heart Association."
Dr. Falkenhain's sponsoring mentor is Dr. Leanne Redman, Associate Executive Director for Scientific Education at Pennington Biomedical. The fellowship leverages the interdisciplinary expertise available at Pennington Biomedical via collaboration with Drs. Corby Martin, Director of the Ingestive Behavior, Weight Management and Health Promotion Lab, and Owen Carmichael, Director of Biomedical Imaging, on the project.
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 in 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 globally recognized state-of-the-art research institution in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
For more information, see www.pbrc.edu.
Provided by Pennington Biomedical Research Center