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Christopher M. Depner, PhD

Dr. Depner completed his PhD in Human Nutrition at Oregon State University followed by Postdoctoral work in sleep and circadian physiology under the guidance of Dr. Kenneth Wright at the University of Colorado Boulder. While in these positions Dr. Depner developed expertise in nutritional biochemistry, metabolomics, and human clinical translational sleep and circadian studies. Dr. Depner's research program integrates his background and training to conduct rigorous human clinical translational sleep and circadian protocols to undertand how the interactions between sleep and circadian physiology and nutrition contribute to metabolic health.

Research Statement

The overarching aims of Dr. Depner's research program are to: 1) identify mechanisms underlying adverse metabolic risk associated with insufficient sleep and circadian disruption; and 2) develop precision medicine based countermeasures that integrate nutrition, and sleep and circadian physiology to improve cardiometabolic health. Dr. Depner's current work is focused on using metabolomics and proteomics to develop biomarkers of sleep and circadian health in humans to identify potential biochemical mechanisms perturbed by poor sleep and circadian health, and to identify individuals most likely to benefit from sleep and circadian based countermeasures. Dr. Depner's research team utilizes research protocols ranging from highly controlled human clinical translational research studies in the sleep lab to "real-world" field studies, with an effort to enhance translation by integrating robust laboratory measures with "real-world" monitoring.

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Christopher Depner (03/18/2019). Ad libitum Weekend Recovery Sleep Fails to Prevent Metabolic Dysregulation during a Repeating Pattern of Insufficient Sleep and Weekend Recovery Sleep. Curr Biol, 29(6), 957-967.
  2. Christopher Depner (07/13/2020). Developing preliminary blood metabolomics-based biomarkers of insufficient sleep in humans. 43(7).
  3. Miles MP, Andring JM, Pearson SD, Gordon LK, Kasper C, Depner CM, Kidd JR (04/01/2008). Diurnal variation, response to eccentric exercise, and association of inflammatory mediators with muscle damage variables. 104, 451-8. (Read full article)
  4. Jump DB, Tripathy S, Depner CM (02/01/2014). Fatty acid-regulated transcription factors in the liver. Annu Rev Nutr, 33, 249-69. (Read full article)
  5. Lytle, K (10/15/2015). Docosahexaenoic acid attenuates Western diet-induced hepatic fibrosis in Ldlr-/- mice by targeting the TGFß-Smad3 pathway. 56(10), 1936-46.
  6. Dana Withrow (11/25/2020). Sleep and Circadian Disruption and the Gut Microbiome-Possible Links to Dysregulated Metabolism.
  7. Jump DB, Depner CM, Tripathy S (04/01/2013). Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation and cardiovascular disease. J Lipid Res, 53, 2525-45. (Read full article)
  8. Withrow D, Bowers SJ, Depner CM (11/01/2021). Sleep and Circadian Disruption and the Gut Microbiome-Possible Links to Dysregulated Metabolism. 17, 26-37. (Read full article)
  9. Tobin SY, Williams PG (11/01/2021). Challenges and Opportunities for Applying Wearable Technology to Sleep. Sleep Med Clin, 16(4), 607-618. (Read full article)
  10. Jump, D (01/15/2018). Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids as a treatment strategy for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. 181, 108-125.
  11. Cogswell D, Bisesi P, Markwald RR, Cruickshank-Quinn C, Quinn K (09/01/2021). Identification of a Preliminary Plasma Metabolome-based Biomarker for Circadian Phase in Humans. J Biol Rhythms, 36, 369-383. (Read full article)
  12. Cooke RF, Cappellozza BI, Guarnieri Filho TA, Depner CM, Lytle KA, Jump DB, Bohnert DW, Cerri RL, Vasconcelos JL (01/01/2015). Effects of calcium salts of soybean oil on factors that influence pregnancy establishment in Bos indicus beef cows. J Anim Sci, 92, 2239-50. (Read full article)
  13. Christopher Depner (06/05/2018). Mistimed food intake and sleep alters 24-hour time-of-day patterns of the human plasma proteome. 115(23), E5390-E5399.
  14. Sprecher, K (08/01/2019). Trait-like vulnerability of higher-order cognition and ability to maintain wakefulness during combined sleep restriction and circadian misalignment. 42(8).
  15. Eckel, R* (11/16/2015). Morning Circadian Misalignment during Short Sleep Duration Impacts Insulin Sensitivity. Curr Biol, 25(22), 3004-10; *co-first author.
  16. Wright, K (07/20/2020). Sleep in university students prior to and during COVID-19 Stay-at-Home orders. Curr Biol, 3(14).
  17. Arble, D (12/01/2015). Impact of Sleep and Circadian Disruption on Energy Balance and Diabetes: A Summary of Workshop Discussions. 38(12), 1849-60.
  18. Jump, D (11/13/2015). Potential for dietary ¿-3 fatty acids to prevent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and reduce the risk of primary liver cancer. 6(6), 694-702.
  19. Depner CM, Rice JD, Tussey EJ, Eckel RH, Bergman BC (08/01/2021). Bone turnover marker responses to sleep restriction and weekend recovery sleep. Bone, 152, 116096. (Read full article)
  20. Christopher Depner (07/15/2014). Metabolic consequences of sleep and circadian disorders. 14(7), 507.
  21. Depner CM, Kirwan RD, Frederickson SJ, Miles MP (11/01/2010). Enhanced inflammation with high carbohydrate intake during recovery from eccentric exercise. Eur J Appl Physiol, 109, 1067-76. (Read full article)
  22. Depner CM, Traber MG, Bobe G, Kensicki E, Bohren KM, Milne G, Jump DB (09/01/2014). A metabolomic analysis of omega-3 fatty acid-mediated attenuation of western diet-induced nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in LDLR-/- mice. PLoS One, 8, e83756. (Read full article)
  23. Stothard, E (02/20/2017). Circadian Entrainment to the Natural Light-Dark Cycle across Seasons and the Weekend. Curr Biol, 27(4), 508-513.
  24. Jump, D (02/15/2016). Impact of dietary fat on the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Ldlr-/- mice. 75(1), 1-9.
  25. Depner CM, Melanson EL, Eckel RH, Higgins JA (03/01/2022). Effects of ad libitum food intake, insufficient sleep and weekend recovery sleep on energy balance. 44. (Read full article)
  26. Goldstein CA, Depner C (02/01/2021). Miles to go before we sleep'a step toward transparent evaluation of consumer sleep tracking devices. 44. (Read full article)
  27. Depner CM, Torres-Gonzalez M, Tripathy S, Milne G, Jump DB (10/01/2012). Menhaden oil decreases high-fat diet-induced markers of hepatic damage, steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis in obese Ldlr-/- mice. 142, 1495-503. (Read full article)
  28. Christopher Depner (02/13/2020). Wearable technologies for developing sleep and circadian biomarkers: a summary of workshop discussions. 43(2).
  29. Haspel, J (01/16/2020). Perfect timing: circadian rhythms, sleep, and immunity - an NIH workshop summary. 5(1), e131487.

Other

  1. Depner CM, Philbrick KA, Jump DB (04/01/2013). Docosahexaenoic acid attenuates hepatic inflammation, oxidative stress, and fibrosis without decreasing hepatosteatosis in a Ldlr(-/-) mouse model of western diet-induced nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. (143, pp. 315-23). The Journal of nutrition. (Read full article)
  2. Miles MP, Depner CM, Kirwan RD, Frederickson SJ (10/01/2010). Influence of macronutrient intake and anthropometric characteristics on plasma insulin after eccentric exercise. Metabolism (59, pp. 1456-64). Metabolism: clinical and experimental. (Read full article)