Robin Clugston
Assistant Professor
PhD, University of Alberta
Office and Lab: 7-49 Medical Sciences Building
Telephone: 780-492-5915
Email address: clugston@ualberta.ca
Laboratory Website
Research Interests / Academic Activities
Dr. Clugston is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology, at the University of Alberta. Dr. Clugston is the course coordinator for PHYSL 455/555 (Physiology of Lipids and Lipoproteins) and teaches in several Physiology courses, including PHYSL 210, 212, 214, 407, and 455.
The Clugston lab's major research focus is on the role of vitamin A in maintaining a healthy body and preventing disease. While vitamin A has a well-recognized role in vision, the Clugston lab's research program is primarily interested in retinoic acid, an active metabolite of dietary vitamin A that is a potent signalling molecule with diverse roles in different physiological systems. The lab's expertise in studying retinoid biology is reflected in core methods that can be applied to answer different research questions in different physiological contexts. Embracing principles of animal physiology, nutrition, biochemistry and molecular biology, we are well-equipped to improve our understanding of vitamin A's role in both health and disease.
The lab's research program is divided into three major tracks. Each track addresses different aspects of vitamin A's physiologic roles. The first track concerns basic vitamin A metabolism and aims to fill in gaps in our knowledge about how the body metabolizes this essential micronutrient. The second track is focused on the liver and aims to answer questions surrounding vitamin A's role in maintaining a healthy liver, as well as how problems with vitamin A metabolism and signaling can contribute to the development and progression of liver disease. The third track switches to the well-established role of retinoic acid in developmental biology. Here we are specifically interested in how abnormal vitamin A metabolism contributes to the birth defect congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
Publications
For a complete list of Dr. Clugston’s publications please click here
Laboratory Members
Lab Technician
Samantha Kinney
Graduate Students
Afroza Ferdouse
Juan Garcia Rivas
Jenna Richardson
Emily Sugars