Ryan Ceddia, PhD, is a Research Instructor in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine within the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
He earned a master’s in animal science from North Carolina State University at Raleigh, and a subsequent PhD in pharmacology from Vanderbilt University. Dr. Ceddia’s research broadly investigates the signaling mechanisms affecting obesity and metabolic diseases with a particular focus on adipose tissue and its thermogenic activity. His work integrates in vitro and in vivo studies to elucidate how these signaling mechanisms affect glycemic control and weight gain at both the cellular- and system-level. A common theme of his work has been on finding ways to increase the levels of cyclic nucleotides in adipocytes as a means of augmenting their thermogenic activity and combatting obesity.
Recent work by Dr. Ceddia and collaborators shows that ablating Phosphodiesterase 9, an enzyme that degrades cGMP, increases energy expenditure and protect against diet-induced obesity. He received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award to conduct these studies, which have been published in Diabetes and the Journal of Clinical Investigation. He also co-led a study which uncovered a novel mechanism by which the NP clearance receptor inhibits cGMP generation.
Dr. Ceddia recently received an internal career development award from the Vanderbilt Faculty Research Scholars Program to continue his studies on NP and cGMP signaling in the adipocyte thermogenic program.