My Expertise
Dr Vicky Tsai's research focuses on the molecular and neural mechanisms that govern energy homeostasis, appetite regulation, and neuronal circuitry in obesity and cachexia, with particular focus on the GDF15-GFRAL signalling pathway. Her work has made significant contributions to the development of therapeutic strategies targeting GDF15 inhibition for the treatment of cachexia.
Research Interests:
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Central regulation of appetite and metabolism
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Brain-driven mechanism of cachexia
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Neuronal circuitry of Obesity and obesity-related disorders
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Central regulation of inflammation
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Therapeutic applications of GDF15 and related pathways
Keywords
Biography
Dr Vicky Tsai received her PhD from the University of Queensland, followed by postdoctoral training at Academia Sinica in Taiwan, where she led a study identifying a key neuroinflammatory mechanism driving amyloid plaque accumulation. She later joined Prof. Sam Breit’s team in the Inflammation and Cytokine Biology Program at St Vincent’s Centre for Applied Medical Research, where her research focus shifted to neuronal circuitry...view more
Dr Vicky Tsai received her PhD from the University of Queensland, followed by postdoctoral training at Academia Sinica in Taiwan, where she led a study identifying a key neuroinflammatory mechanism driving amyloid plaque accumulation. She later joined Prof. Sam Breit’s team in the Inflammation and Cytokine Biology Program at St Vincent’s Centre for Applied Medical Research, where her research focus shifted to neuronal circuitry underlying appetite regulation and metabolism.
Dr Tsai played a central role in the NHMRC-recognised studies on GDF15/MIC-1 (Project Grant 1057910; NHMRC Ten of the Best Projects 2011), where she defined its signalling pathways and demonstrated its central role in cachexia, appetite control, and metabolic regulation. Her work has significantly contributed to the development of therapeutic strategies targeting GDF15 inhibition for the treatment of cachexia, now validated in Phase II clinical trials.
My Research Activities
Major Publications:
1. Breit, S. N. & Tsai, V. W. Metabolic Messenger: growth differentiation factor 15. Nat Metab (2025).
2. Breit, S. N., Brown, D. A. & Tsai, V. W. W. GDF15 research from bench to bedside. Cancer Cell S1535-6108(24)00365 (2024).
3. Breit, S. N. et al. GDF15 enhances body weight and adiposity reduction in obese mice by leveraging the leptin pathway. Cell Metab 35, 1341-1355.e3 (2023).
4. Breit, S. N., Brown, D. A. & Tsai, V. W. W. GDF15 analogs as obesity therapeutics. Cell Metab 35, 227-228 (2023).
5. Tsai, V. W. et al. GDF15 mediates adiposity resistance through actions on GFRAL neurons in the hindbrain AP/NTS. Int J Obes (Lond) 43, 2370-2380 (2019).
6. Tsai, V. W. et al. Treatment with the TGF-b superfamily cytokine MIC-1/GDF15 reduces the adiposity and corrects the metabolic dysfunction of mice with diet-induced obesity. Int J Obes (Lond) 42, 561-571 (2018).
7. Tsai, V. W. W., Husaini, Y., Sainsbury, A., Brown, D. A. & Breit, S. N. The MIC-1/GDF15-GFRAL Pathway in Energy Homeostasis: Implications for Obesity, Cachexia, and Other Associated Diseases. Cell Metab 28, 353-368 (2018).
My Research Supervision
Areas of supervision
Cachexia and obese animal model, central regulation of metabolism, appetite and inflammation.
Location
Level 8, Lowy Packer Building
405 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010
Publications
ORCID as entered in ROS
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7817-3441