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.  

Research Keywords

  • Sleep Studies
  • Nutrition
  • Metabolomics
  • Metabolism and Obesity
  • Diabetes Prevention
  • Circadian Rhythms

Presentations

  • Developing Biomarkers of Adverse Cardiometabolic Risk Linked to Short Sleep Duration: Will they Work? Rutgers University Department of Kinesiology. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 10/19/2022.
  • Developing Molecular Biomarkers of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms: Challenges and Opportunities. National Institutes of Health Workshop on Optimal instruments for measurement of dietary intake, physical activity, and sleep among adults. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 09/22/2022.
  • Sleep Disruption, Circadian Misalignment, and Adverse Cardiometabolic Risk. Trends in Sleep Medicine; Annual SLEEP/APSS Conference. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 06/04/2022.
  • Individual Differences in Energy Balance Responses to Insufficient Sleep and Weekend Recovery Sleep. Harvard (Brigham and Women’s Hospital), Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 12/2021.
  • Human metabolomics-based biomarkers of insufficient sleep and their association with cognitive performance. 3rd Congress of the Asian Society of Sleep Medicine. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 07/2021.
  • Individual differences in skin temperature responses to cold pressor stress during combined sleep restriction and circadian misalignment. SLEEP. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 06/2021.
  • Stability of gut microbiome alpha diversity during combined sleep restriction and circadian misalignment. SLEEP. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 06/2021.
  • Developing Biomarkers of Sleep and Circadian Disruption and Related Adverse Health Outcomes. University of Utah Health Behavior Seminar Series. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 03/2021.
  • Developing Biomarkers of Sleep and Circadian Disruption and Related Metabolic Impairments. Keystone Conference “Sleep and Circadian Rhythms: Pillars of Health”. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 02/2021.
  • Metabolic and Cognitive Health Consequences of Insufficient Sleep. University of Utah, Department of Psychology, Behavioral Medicine Research Seminar. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 11/15/2020.
  • The Impact of Weekend Recovery Sleep on Insulin Sensitivity and Energy Balance. University of Utah Diabetes and Metabolism Research Center Research Recharge. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 11/05/2020.
  • Sleep duration and plasma metabolites: A metabolome-wide association study in US women. SLEEP. 2020. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 08/28/2020.
  • Identification of a stable human metabolomics-based biomarker of insufficient sleep and its association with cognitive performance. SLEEP. 2020. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 08/28/2020.
  • Sex differences in evening relative macronutrient utilization and associated weight gain during insufficient sleep. SLEEP. 2020. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 08/28/2020.
  • Identification of a plasma metabolome-based biomarker for dim light melatonin offset and onset in humans. SLEEP. 2020. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 08/28/2020.
  • Sex differences in nocturnal substrate oxidation during insufficient sleep. Society for Research on Biological Rhythms Meeting. 2020. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 08/28/2020.
  • Big Data Workshop, Metabolomics in Sleep and Circadian Science. University of Colorado Boulder Sleep and Circadian Summer School. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 08/15/2020.
  • Consumer Wearables to Advance Sleep Disorder Science and Management. American Thoracic Society International Conference. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 08/05/2020.
  • Sleep and Circadian Physiology in Health and Disease. University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Department of Neurology. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 05/15/2020.
  • Sleep and Circadian Disruption: Contributions to Adverse Metabolic Risk. University of Iowa, Department of Health and Human Physiology. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 01/20/2020.

Other Profile Data

For a complete list of Dr. Depner's publications please see:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/christopher.depner.1/bibliography/public/

OR his Google Scholar Profile

The below list highlights a sample of publications

 

 

Publications

  • Fritz J, Huang T, Depner CM, Zeleznik OA, Cespedes Feliciano EM, Li W & Stone KL (2023). Sleep duration, plasma metabolites, and obesity and diabetes: a metabolome-wide association study in US women. Sleep. Vol. 46. Published, 01/01/2023.
  • Klerman EB, Brager A, Carskadon MA, Depner CM, Foster R, Goel N, Harrington M, Holloway PM, Knauert MP, LeBourgeois MK, Lipton J & Merrow M (2022). Keeping an eye on circadian time in clinical research and medicine. Clinical and translational medicine. Vol. 12, e1131e1131. Published, 12/01/2022.
  • Depner CM, Melanson EL, Eckel RH & Higgins JA (2022). Effects of ad libitum food intake, insufficient sleep and weekend recovery sleep on energy balance. Sleep. Vol. 44. Published, 03/01/2022.
  • Withrow D, Bowers SJ & Depner CM (2021). Sleep and Circadian Disruption and the Gut Microbiome-Possible Links to Dysregulated Metabolism. Current opinion in endocrine and metabolic research. Vol. 17, 26-37. Published, 11/01/2021.
  • Tobin SY & Williams PG (2021). Challenges and Opportunities for Applying Wearable Technology to Sleep. Sleep medicine clinics. Vol. 16, 607-618. Published, 11/01/2021.
  • Cogswell D, Bisesi P, Markwald RR, Cruickshank-Quinn C & Quinn K (2021). Identification of a Preliminary Plasma Metabolome-based Biomarker for Circadian Phase in Humans. Journal of biological rhythms. Vol. 36, 369-383. Published, 09/01/2021.
  • Depner CM, Rice JD, Tussey EJ, Eckel RH & Bergman BC (2021). Bone turnover marker responses to sleep restriction and weekend recovery sleep. Bone. Vol. 152, 116096. Published, 08/01/2021.
  • Goldstein CA & Depner C (2021). Miles to go before we sleep…a step toward transparent evaluation of consumer sleep tracking devices. Sleep. Vol. 44. Published, 02/01/2021.
  • Dana Withrow, Samuel Bowers, Christopher Depner, Antonio Gonzalez, Amy Reynolds & Kenneth Wright (2020). Sleep and Circadian Disruption and the Gut Microbiome-Possible Links to Dysregulated Metabolism. Elsevier. Accepted, 11/25/2020.
  • Wright, K, Linton, S, Withrow, D, Casiraghi, L, Lanza, S, Iglesia, H, Vetter, C & Depner, C (2020). Sleep in university students prior to and during COVID-19 Stay-at-Home orders. Current Biology. Vol. 3(14). Published, 07/20/2020.
  • Christopher Depner, Cogswell, D, Bisesi, P, Markwald, R, Cruickshank-Quinn, C, Quinn, K., Melanson, E., Reisdorph, N. & Wright, K (2020). Developing preliminary blood metabolomics-based biomarkers of insufficient sleep in humans. SLEEP. Vol. 43(7). Published, 07/13/2020.
  • Christopher Depner, Cheng, P, Devine, J, Khosla, S, de Zambotti, M, Robillard, R, Vakulin, A & Drummond, S (2020). Wearable technologies for developing sleep and circadian biomarkers: a summary of workshop discussions. Sleep. Vol. 43(2). Published, 02/13/2020.
  • Haspel, J, Anafi, R, Brown, M, Cermakian, N, Depner, C, Desplats, P, Gelman, A, Haack, M, Jelic, S, Kim, B, Szentirmai, É, Thakkar, M, Walker, W & Solt, L (2020). Perfect timing: circadian rhythms, sleep, and immunity - an NIH workshop summary. JCI Insight. Vol. 5(1), e131487. Published, 01/16/2020.
  • Sprecher, K, Ritchie, H, Burke, T, Depner, C, Smits, A, Dorrestein, P, Fleshner, M, Knight, R, Lowry, C, Turek, F, Vitaterna, M & Wright, K (2019). Trait-like vulnerability of higher-order cognition and ability to maintain wakefulness during combined sleep restriction and circadian misalignment. Sleep. Vol. 42(8). Published, 08/01/2019.
  • Christopher Depner, Melanson, E, Eckel, R, Snell-Bergeon, J, Perreault, L, Bergman, B, Higgins, J, Guerin, M, Stothard, E, Morton, S & Wright, K (2019). Ad libitum Weekend Recovery Sleep Fails to Prevent Metabolic Dysregulation during a Repeating Pattern of Insufficient Sleep and Weekend Recovery Sleep. Current Biology. Vol. 29(6), 957-967. Published, 03/18/2019.
  • Christopher Depner, Melanson, E, McHill, A & Wright, K (2018). Mistimed food intake and sleep alters 24-hour time-of-day patterns of the human plasma proteome. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Vol. 115(23), E5390-E5399. Published, 06/05/2018.
  • Jump, D, Lytle, K, Depner, C & Tripathy, S (2018). Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids as a treatment strategy for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Pharmacol Ther. Vol. 181, 108-125. Published, 01/15/2018.
  • Stothard, E, McHill, A, Depner, C, Birks, B, Moehlman, T, Ritchie, H, Guzzetti, J, Chinoy, E, LeBourgeois, M, Axelsson, J & Wright, K (2017). Circadian Entrainment to the Natural Light-Dark Cycle across Seasons and the Weekend. Current Biology. Vol. 27(4), 508-513. Published, 02/20/2017.
  • Jump, D, Depner, C, Tripathy, S & Lytle, K (2016). Impact of dietary fat on the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Ldlr-/- mice. Proc Nutr Soc. Vol. 75(1), 1-9. Published, 02/15/2016.
  • Arble, D, Bass, J, Behn, C, Butler, M, Challet, E, Czeisler, C, Depner, C, Elmquist, J, Franken, P, Grandner, M, Hanlon, E, Keene, A, Joyner, M, Karatsoreos, I, Kern, P, Klein, S, Morris, C, Pack, A, Panda, S, Ptacek, L, Punjabi, N, Sassone-Corsi, P, Scheer, F, Saxena, R, Seaquest, E, Thimgan, M, Van Cauter, E & Wright, K (2015). Impact of Sleep and Circadian Disruption on Energy Balance and Diabetes: A Summary of Workshop Discussions. Sleep. Vol. 38(12), 1849-60. Published, 12/01/2015.
  • Eckel, R*, Depner, C*, Perreault, L, Markwald, R, Smith, M, McHill, A, Janine, H, Melanson, E & Wright, K (2015). Morning Circadian Misalignment during Short Sleep Duration Impacts Insulin Sensitivity. Current Biology. Vol. 25(22), 3004-10; *co-first author. Published, 11/16/2015.
  • Jump, D, Depner, C, Tripathy, S & Lytle, K (2015). Potential for dietary ω-3 fatty acids to prevent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and reduce the risk of primary liver cancer. Adv Nutr. Vol. 6(6), 694-702. Published, 11/13/2015.
  • Lytle, K, Depner, C, Wong, C & Jump, D (2015). Docosahexaenoic acid attenuates Western diet-induced hepatic fibrosis in Ldlr-/- mice by targeting the TGFβ-Smad3 pathway. J Lipid Res. Vol. 56(10), 1936-46. Published, 10/15/2015.
  • Cooke RF, Cappellozza BI, Guarnieri Filho TA, Depner CM, Lytle KA, Jump DB, Bohnert DW, Cerri RL & Vasconcelos JL (2015). Effects of calcium salts of soybean oil on factors that influence pregnancy establishment in Bos indicus beef cows. Journal of animal science. Vol. 92, 2239-50. Published, 01/01/2015.
  • Christopher Depner, Stothard, E & Wright, K (2014). Metabolic consequences of sleep and circadian disorders. Curr Diab Rep. Vol. 14(7), 507. Published, 07/15/2014.
  • Jump DB, Tripathy S & Depner CM (2014). Fatty acid-regulated transcription factors in the liver. Annual review of nutrition. Vol. 33, 249-69. Published, 02/01/2014.
  • Jump DB, Depner CM & Tripathy S (2013). Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation and cardiovascular disease. Journal of lipid research. Vol. 53, 2525-45. Published, 04/01/2013.
  • Depner CM, Philbrick KA & Jump DB (2013). Docosahexaenoic acid attenuates hepatic inflammation, oxidative stress, and fibrosis without decreasing hepatosteatosis in a Ldlr(-/-) mouse model of western diet-induced nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. (pp. 315-23). Vol. 143. The Journal of nutrition. Published, 04/01/2013.
  • Depner CM, Torres-Gonzalez M, Tripathy S, Milne G & Jump DB (2012). Menhaden oil decreases high-fat diet-induced markers of hepatic damage, steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis in obese Ldlr-/- mice. The Journal of nutrition. Vol. 142, 1495-503. Published, 10/01/2012.
  • Depner CM, Kirwan RD, Frederickson SJ & Miles MP (2010). Enhanced inflammation with high carbohydrate intake during recovery from eccentric exercise. European journal of applied physiology. Vol. 109, 1067-76. Published, 11/01/2010.
  • Miles MP, Depner CM, Kirwan RD & Frederickson SJ (2010). Influence of macronutrient intake and anthropometric characteristics on plasma insulin after eccentric exercise. (pp. 1456-64). Vol. 59. Metabolism: clinical and experimental. Published, 10/01/2010.
  • Miles MP, Andring JM, Pearson SD, Gordon LK, Kasper C, Depner CM & Kidd JR (2008). Diurnal variation, response to eccentric exercise, and association of inflammatory mediators with muscle damage variables. Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985). Vol. 104, 451-8. Published, 04/01/2008.