Deborah J. Good, PhD
- Focus area(s): Molecular regulation of body weight, exercise, fertility, and puberty; prader-willi syndrome; phylogenetic analysis; nutraceutical functional foods; Pedagogy research
Education
Sabbatical, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Bad Nauheim, Germany, 2012. Host: Dr. Thomas Braun
Postdoctoral Scholar, Molecular Neuroendocrinology, National Institute of Health, National Cancer Institute, 1993-1997. Mentor: Dr. Ilan Kirsch
Ph.D., Cellular and Molecular Biology Program, Northwestern University, 1992. Thesis: “Tumor Suppressor Gene Control of an Inhibitor of Angiogenesis”. Advisor: Dr. Noel P. Bouck
B.S., Biomedical Research, State University of New York, College at Fredonia, 1987
Experience
Dec 2019 – present: Faculty of Health Sciences, Virginia Tech Carilion Research Insititute
August 2006 – present: Associate Professor, Obesity Research Cluster, Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Tech
January 2019 – December 2020: Associate Department Head
August 2011 – August 2020: Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Tech
April 2003 – August 2006: Associate Professor, Vertebrate Molecular Genetics, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
September 1997 – April 2003: Assistant Professor, Vertebrate Molecular Genetics, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
February 1998 – August 1997: Postdoctoral Fellow, Acquired Gene Rearrangement Laboratory, National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health
Affiliations
- School of Neuroscience
- Fralin Life Sciences Institute
- Faculty of Health Sciences
- CEO, Good Foods Group, LLC
- Director-Mid-Atlantic Region, Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Honor Society
In collaboration with Dr. Young Ju (HNFE) and Melissa Wright, Director of the Food Producer Technical Assistance Network, we seek to improve labeling of our conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)-based functional food products with accurate information derived from the biological findings and will produce a series of 1-3 extension publications that communicate information about CLA nutraceuticals and CLA usage to our community and industry stakeholders.
My translational research laboratory is interested in identifying basic biological pathways and nutraceutical compounds that can be used to understand and treat genetic disease. We focus on adult onset obesity in general, as well trying to understand the molecular cause of Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS), a genetic condition affecting one in 10,000 live births. To this end, we have discovered that the nutraceutical, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) can treat obesity and fertility in two different mouse models of PWS. This work has led to two US patents and one international patent, and the formation of a Limited Liability Corporation “Good Foods Group, LLC”, which seeks to develop functional foods that can treat and prevent weight gain in individuals with genetic obesity.
With Drs. Samantha Harden and Angela Anderson, I have developed and run four summer undergraduate research programs -USDA Scholars, HNFE Scholars, TOUR Scholars, and IE Scholars, and have developed three different Course-based research experiences. My research has demonstrated the links between hands-on research and student success, both in summer and academic year programs. I am also interested in the interaction of body weight on academic success and have shown that higher body weight and lower physical activity is associated with lower academic success in college students.
Finally, in an offshoot of my interest in genetics, I have worked with Dr. Charles Nicols in the School of Performing Arts to create several musical compositions that demonstrate the beauty and horror of the COVID-19 virus, in our project “Playing COVID Proteins”.