Lea Egli

Lea is a PhD student in the S03 project "Obesity as a Model of Sex Diversity in Steroid Metabolism" in the CRC 1665 Sexdiversity.

The research objective is to ascertain if obesity should be considered as a novel model of sex diversity. Recently it has been shown that obesity can lead to sex-specific intersexual subtypes within the steroid metabolism resulting in hyperandrogenism in obese women and hyperoestrogenism in obese men.^[1-2] This observation underscores a pivotal key factor that contributes to the development of comorbities. To investigate this, the PhD student will perform a comprehensive investigation into the ex vivo steroid profile and secretome characterization of depot-specific adipose tissue and isolated preadipocytes in obese and lean controls. In addition, the serum and metabolomic steroidogenic products in obese cohorts will be investigated by cooperation within the SFB (M05, M06). Ultimately, the project aims to identify depot-specific steroidogenic pathways and their molecular regulatory mechanisms to improve our understanding of how obesity contributes to the development of comorbities.

Lea's scientific expertise, based on a bachelor's degree in advanced chemistry and a master's degree in technical biochemistry combined with her hands-on mentality, positions her to provide novel insights into the complex interplay between obesity, steroid metabolism and sex-specific health outcomes.