Associate Professor of Medicine
Function: Junior Supervisor N094 & N790
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism
Department of Medicine III
Medical University of Vienna
Währinger Gürtel 18-20
A-1090 Vienna
Phone: +43 (0)1 40400 - 72690
Fax: +43 (0)1 40400 - 77900
E-Mail: florian.kiefer@meduniwien.ac.at
Research Interests: Energy Metabolism, Obesity, White and Brown Adipose Tissue, Thermogenesis, Vitamin A
Our main areas of interest are energy metabolism and metabolic disease, with particular emphasis on adipose tissue biology. Brown adipose tissue, in contrast to white adipose tissue, is specialized in energy dissipation through heat production (thermogenesis). Promoting brown fat function in vivo results in protection against obesity and related metabolic complications such as type 2 diabetes. Current research focuses on identifying novel pathways of brown fat activation and “browning” of white adipose tissue. In this context we are particularly interested in the transcriptional role of the vitaminA/retinoid axis in white and brown fat function. Another goal of our laboratory is to translate preclinical findings of brown fat biology into human physiology and pathophysiology (metabolic disease). Previous work has been related to obesity-induced inflammation and insulin resistance in adipose tissue and liver.
Molecular biology; protein chemistry; immunoassays; immunohistochemistry; cell culture; cell respiration; animal studies; metabolic cage analysis; cold exposure studies; human PET-CT studies
Kiefer FW, Cohen P, Plutzky J. Fifty shades of brown: perivascular fat, thermogenesis, and atherosclerosis. Circulation 126: 1012-1015, 2012
Kiefer FW, Vernochet C, O’Brien P, Spoerl S, Brown JD, Nallamshetty S, Zeyda M, Stulnig TM, Cohen DE, Kahn CR, Plutzky J. Retinaldehyde dehydrogenase 1 regulates a thermogenic program in white adipose tissue. Nat Med 18: 918-925, 2012
Kiefer FW. Browning and thermogenic programming of adipose tissue. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab 30: 479-485, 2016
Kiefer FW. The significance of beige and brown fat in humans. Endocr Connect 6: R70-R79, 2017
Iwen KA, Backhaus J, Cassens M, Waltl M, Hedesan OC, Merkel M, Heeren J, Sina C, Rademacher L, Windjäger A, Haug AR, Kiefer FW, Lehnert H, Schmid SM. Cold-induced brown adipose tissue activity alters plasma fatty acids and improves glucose metabolism in men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 102: 4226-4234, 2017
Blumenfeld NR, Kang HJ, Fenzl A, Song Z, Chung JJ, Singh R, Johnson R, Karakecili A, Feranil JB, Rossen NS, Zhang V, Jaggi S, McCarty B, Bessler S, Schwartz GJ, Grant R, Korner J, Kiefer FW, Gillette BM, Sia SK. A direct tissue-grafting approach to increasing endogenous brown fat. Sci Rep 8: 7957, 2018
Hedesan OC, Fenzl A, Digruber A, Spirk A, Baumgartner-Parzer S, Bilban M, Kenner L, Vierhapper M, Elbe-Bürger A, Kiefer FW. Parathyroid hormone induces a browning program in human white adipocytes. Int J Obes, 2018, in press