Brandon Davies, PhD
Principal Investigator

Regulation of lipid homeostasis has been the consistent theme of my scientific career. As an undergraduate at the University of Utah, I studied cholesterol trafficking. As a graduate student at Berkeley, I studied two transcription factors that regulated the synthesis of ergosterol (the yeast version of cholesterol), and then as a post-doc at UCLA I started my work on the role of endothelial cells in regulating triglyceride metabolism. I also like to eat lipids. Aside from lipids, I am a long time biker. Although moving to Iowa has reduced the amount of time I spend mountain biking, it has added additional climatic elements to my bike commute and allowed me to expand the temperature range in which I have successfully biked to lab (current range -24 degrees [-41 with windchill] to 110 degrees).

Shwetha Shetty
Research Assistant

I grew up and studied Bachelor of Engineering in Biotechnology from India, then did M.S. from Stephen F. Austin State University. Before coming to Iowa I worked as a Research Associate at UTHSCT, Tyler, Texas and IPSEN Pharmaceuticals, MA. My lab experience got me interested in gene expression and regulation. Fortunately, I got the chance to work under Dr. Davies and I am greatly enjoying working with him and now exploring ways to express GPIHBP1 in cell culture.

Kelli Davie 
Postdoctoral Fellow

Before starting at the University of Iowa, I graduated from the College of Saint Scholastica in Duluth, MN with a bachelors in Biochemistry and Biology. My current research interest is understanding how Endothelial Lipase is regulated by ANGPTL proteins. Outside of lab, my interests include watching The Office on repeat, coffee, cats, spending time with my husband, and having board game nights with friends.

Kathryn Spitler, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar (2017-2021)

Katie's Davies Lab Publications

• Spitler KM, Shetty SK, Cushing EM, Sylvers-Davie KL, Davies BSJ. Regulation of plasma triglyceride partitioning by adipose-derived ANGPTL4 in mice. Scientific Reports 2021 11:7873.
• Spitler KM, Shetty SK, Cushing EM, Sylvers-Davie KL, Davies BSJ. Chronic high fat feeding and prolonged fasting in liver-specific ANGPTL4 knockout mice. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2021 Oct 1;321(4):E464-E478.
• Spitler KM and Davies BSJ. Aging and Plasma Triglyceride Metabolism. J Lipid Res. 2020;61:1161-1167

Emily Malcolm Cushing
Graduate Student (2013-2018)

Originally from Arkansas, Emily received her B.S. in Chemistry and Biology from the University of Central Arkansas in 2007 and her M.S. in Chemistry from Georgia Tech in 2010.  She joined the Biochemistry program at the University of Iowa in 2012, and became the first graduate student to join the Davies lab in 2014. Emily defended her thesis "Regulation of Plasma Triglycerides by ANGPTL4 and GPIHBP1" in 2018. After graduating, Dr. Cushing began her postdoc in the lab of Alan Attie at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Emily's Davies lab publications:

• Chi X, Shetty SK, Shows HW, Hjelmaas AJ, Malcolm EK, Davies BS. Angiopoietin-like 4 Modifies the Interactions between Lipoprotein Lipase and Its Endothelial Cell Transporter GPIHBP1. J Biol Chem. 2015 May 8;290(19):11865–11877
• Cushing EM, Chi X, Sylvers KL, Shetty SK, Potthoff MJ, Davies BSJ. Angiopoietin-like 4 directs uptake of dietary fat away from adipose during fasting. Mol Metab. 2017 Jun 19;6(8):809–818.
• Chi X, Britt EC, Shows HW, Hjelmaas AJ, Shetty SK, Cushing EM, Li W, Dou A, Zhang R, Davies BSJ. ANGPTL8 promotes the ability of ANGPTL3 to bind and inhibit lipoprotein lipase. Mol Metab. 2017 Oct;6(10):1137-1149.
• Cushing EM, Sylvers KL, Chi X, Shetty SK, Davies BS. Novel GPIHBP1-independent pathway for clearance of plasma TGs in Angptl4^–/–Gpihbp1^–/– mice. J. Lipid Res. Jul 1;59(7):1230–1243

Allison (Xun) Chi
Graduate Student (2013-2017)

Two months after finishing her undergraduate degree in China in 2012, Allison came to Iowa to begin her graduate studies in the department of Biochemistry. She joined the Davies lab in the spring of 2013. In 2017 Allison defended her thesis, "Extracellular Regulation of LPL Activity by Angiopoietin-like Proteins" and became the first student to get her PhD from the Davies Lab. Allison then joined the lab of Steve Bensinger at UCLA for her postdoc.

Allison's Davies Lab Publications:

• Chi X, Shetty SK, Shows HW, Hjelmaas AJ, Malcolm EK, Davies BS. Angiopoietin-like 4 Modifies the Interactions between Lipoprotein Lipase and Its Endothelial Cell Transporter GPIHBP1. J Biol Chem. 2015 May 8;290(19):11865–11877
• Chi X, Britt EC, Shows HW, Hjelmaas AJ, Shetty SK, Cushing EM, Li W, Dou A, Zhang R, Davies BSJ. ANGPTL8 promotes the ability of ANGPTL3 to bind and inhibit lipoprotein lipase. Mol Metab. 2017 Oct;6(10):1137-1149.
• Cushing EM, Sylvers KL, Chi X, Shetty SK, Davies BS. Novel GPIHBP1-independent pathway for clearance of plasma TGs in Angptl4^–/–Gpihbp1^–/– mice. J. Lipid Res. Jul 1;59(7):1230–1243

Hannah Shows
Undergraduate Student (2013-2015)

Hannah joined the Davies’ lab at the end of her freshman year, becoming the first undergraduate to join the lab. Although Hannah never fulfilled her dream of studying triglyceride metabolism in live grizzly bears she did finish her degree in Biochemistry in December 2015. In the fall of 2016 she started graduate school at Wright State University, eventually joining the lab of Kate Excoffon.

Hannah's Davies Lab Publications:

• Chi X, Shetty SK, Shows HW, Hjelmaas AJ, Malcolm EK, Davies BS. Angiopoietin-like 4 Modifies the Interactions between Lipoprotein Lipase and Its Endothelial Cell Transporter GPIHBP1. J Biol Chem. 2015 May 8;290(19):11865–11877
• Chi X, Britt EC, Shows HW, Hjelmaas AJ, Shetty SK, Cushing EM, Li W, Dou A, Zhang R, Davies BSJ. ANGPTL8 promotes the ability of ANGPTL3 to bind and inhibit lipoprotein lipase. Mol Metab. 2017 Oct;6(10):1137-1149

Alex Hjelmaas
Undergraduate Student (2013-2015)

Alex joined the Davies lab at the beginning of his Junior year. While in the lab Alex was awarded an ICRU Summer Research Award and the H.G Wittman Scholar Award. Alex also promised that he would continued to work in the lab until the Cub won the World Series. Despite this promise, Alex graduated in Spring 2015 and then attended medical school at the University of Michigan. The Cubs did not win the World Series until November 2016. Alex you still owe us a year and a half of lab work.

Alex's Davies Lab Publications:

• Chi X, Shetty SK, Shows HW, Hjelmaas AJ, Malcolm EK, Davies BS. Angiopoietin-like 4 Modifies the Interactions between Lipoprotein Lipase and Its Endothelial Cell Transporter GPIHBP1. J Biol Chem. 2015 May 8;290(19):11865–11877
• Chi X, Britt EC, Shows HW, Hjelmaas AJ, Shetty SK, Cushing EM, Li W, Dou A, Zhang R, Davies BSJ. ANGPTL8 promotes the ability of ANGPTL3 to bind and inhibit lipoprotein lipase. Mol Metab. 2017 Oct;6(10):1137-1149.

Emily Britt
Undergraduate Student (2014-2017)

Emily joined the Davies lab at the beginning of her Sophomore year. In her time here, Emily was awarded a Rex Montgomery Biochemistry Scholarship, the H.G. Khorana Scholar Award from the Department of Biochemistry, and the Joseph E. and Ursil I. Callen Prize from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. After graduating with a BS in Biochemistry in the Spring of 2017, she started graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Nutritional Sciences PhD program. She joined the lab of Jing Fan.

Emily's Davies Lab Publications:

• Chi X, Britt EC, Shows HW, Hjelmaas AJ, Shetty SK, Cushing EM, Li W, Dou A, Zhang R, Davies BSJ. ANGPTL8 promotes the ability of ANGPTL3 to bind and inhibit lipoprotein lipase. Mol Metab. 2017 Oct;6(10):1137-1149.

Ashley Segura
Undergraduate Student (2016-2019)

Ashley joined the Davies lab at the end of her Freshman year. She worked on experiments to quantify binding between lipases and their inhibitors. Her lab duties include keeping the graduate students up to date on current memes and dance moves. In her time here she was an IBA scholar and was awarded the Joseph E. and Ursil I. Callen Prize from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. After graduating with a BS in Biochemistry in the Spring of 2019, she started graduate school at the University of California Berkeley in the Molecular and Cellular Biology PhD program. She joined the lab of Roberto Zoncu.

Ashley's Davies Lab Publications:

• Sylvers-Davie KL, Segura-Roman A, Salvi AM, Schache KJ, Davies BSJ. Angiopoietin-like 3 Inhibition of Endothelial Lipase Is Not Modulated by Angiopoietin-like 8. J. Lipid Res. 2021 Aug 27;62:100112