We are interested in understanding the role of central nervous system, particularly hypothalamus, in the regulation of systemic energy balance. Specifically, we are interested to characterize the metabolic function of genes in the hypothalamus by combinatorially using high-throughput DNA sequencing, genetically engineered mice, metabolic phenotyping and biochemical approaches; elucidate the role of genes or loci identified through large scale genome-wide association study (GWAS); identify and characterize novel genes controlling whole-body energy balance by proteomic approach. The results of our study will help to identify novel drug targets to treat obesity and/or obesity-related syndrome.