Kristen Boyle, PhD

Professional Titles

• Co-Director, Basic Science Research Track, LEAD Center
• Associate Director, Nutrition Obesity Research Center Pilot Award Program

Recognitions

• Academic Scholarship, State of Connecticut (1996)
  
• Academic Scholarship, Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1996)
  
• Commonwealth Scholar, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2001)
  
• Department of Biological Sciences Travel Grant, Ohio University (2003)
  
• Award Recipient, NIH Loan Repayment Program (2011)
  
• Travel Award , Seahorse Bioscience (2012)
  
• Women’s Health Research Day Poster Award, University of Colorado Center for Women's Health Research (2013)
  Awarded to top 5 abstract presentations of ~30
• Award Recipient, NIH Loan Repayment Program (2014)
  
• Young Investigator Travel Grant Award Recipient, American Diabetes Association (2015)
  Awarded to junior scientist presenters of top abstracts
• Women’s Health Research Day Poster Award, University of Colorado Center for Women's Health Research (2016)
  Awarded to top 5 abstract presentations of ~30
• President's Oral Session Abstract Selection, American Diabetes Association (2015)
  Top 8 abstracts of over 4,000
• William Hansel Visiting Scientist Lecture, Pennington Biomedical Research Center (2021)
• Elected Member Basic Science Council, Perinatal Research Society (2023)

Research Interests

I have a robust foundation in obesity research, with 18 years dedicated to identifying and understanding metabolic phenotypes in primary human stem cells. My research program aims to understand how fetal exposures predispose infants to metabolic disease later in life. In pursuit of this goal, my lab pioneered the use of mesenchymal stem cells collected from umbilical cord tissue of newborn infants to investigate molecular and metabolic phenotypes predictive of future disease risk. Such tools have allowed us to identify children most at risk for excess adiposity in childhood with greater precision than other common measures collected at birth. As we move toward precision approaches for obesity prevention, infant stem cells will help to identify gestational exposures most impactful, and their modifiability through pregnancy interventions, thereby informing evidence-based prenatal clinical care.

Publications

• Boyle KE, Newsom SA, Janssen RC, Lappas M, Friedman JE. Skeletal muscle MnSOD, mitochondrial complex II, and SIRT3 enzyme activities are decreased in maternal obesity during human pregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2013 Oct;98(10):E1601-9. PubMed PMID: 23956348
• Newsom SA, Boyle KE, Friedman JE. Sirtuin 3: A major control point for obesity-related metabolic diseases?. Drug Discov Today Dis Mech. 2013 Jun 1;10(1-2):e35-e40. PubMed PMID: 23997790
• Schlaepfer IR, Glodé LM, Hitz CA, Pac CT, Boyle KE, Maroni P, Deep G, Agarwal R, Lucia SM, Cramer SD, Serkova NJ, Eckel RH. Inhibition of Lipid Oxidation Increases Glucose Metabolism and Enhances 2-Deoxy-2-[(18)F]Fluoro-D-Glucose Uptake in Prostate Cancer Mouse Xenografts. Mol Imaging Biol. 2015 Jan 6. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 25561013
• Boyle KE, Hwang H, Janssen RC, DeVente JM, Barbour LA, Hernandez TL, Mandarino LJ, Lappas M, Friedman JE. Gestational diabetes is characterized by reduced mitochondrial protein expression and altered calcium signaling proteins in skeletal muscle. PLoS One. 2014;9(9):e106872. PubMed PMID: 25216282
• Boyle KE, Patinkin ZW, Shapiro AL, Baker PR 2nd, Dabelea D, Friedman JE. Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Infants Born to Obese Mothers Exhibit Greater Potential for Adipogenesis: The Healthy Start BabyBUMP Project. Diabetes. 2015 Dec 2. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 26631736
• Baker PR 2nd, Boyle KE, Koves TR, Ilkayeva OR, Muoio DM, Houmard JA, Friedman JE. Metabolomic analysis reveals altered skeletal muscle amino acid and fatty acid handling in obese humans. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2015 May;23(5):981-8. PubMed PMID: 25864501
• Schlaepfer IR, Glodé LM, Hitz CA, Pac CT, Boyle KE, Maroni P, Deep G, Agarwal R, Lucia SM, Cramer SD, Serkova NJ, Eckel RH. Inhibition of Lipid Oxidation Increases Glucose Metabolism and Enhances 2-Deoxy-2-[(18)F]Fluoro-D-Glucose Uptake in Prostate Cancer Mouse Xenografts. Mol Imaging Biol. 2015 Aug;17(4):529-38. PubMed PMID: 25561013
• Boyle KE, Hwang H, Janssen RC, DeVente JM, Barbour LA, Hernandez TL, Mandarino LJ, Lappas M, Friedman JE. Gestational diabetes is characterized by reduced mitochondrial protein expression and altered calcium signaling proteins in skeletal muscle. PLoS One. 2014;9(9):e106872. PubMed PMID: 25216282
• Boyle KE, Friedman JE, Janssen RC, Underkofler C, Houmard JA, Rasouli N. Metabolic Inflexibility with Obesity and the Effects of Fenofibrate on Skeletal Muscle Fatty Acid Oxidation. Horm Metab Res. 2016 Aug 2. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 27485593
• Shapiro AL, Boyle KE, Dabelea D, Patinkin ZW, De la Houssaye B, Ringham BM, Glueck DH, Barbour LA, Norris JM, Friedman JE. Nicotinamide Promotes Adipogenesis in Umbilical Cord-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Is Associated with Neonatal Adiposity: The Healthy Start BabyBUMP Project. PLoS One. 2016 Jul 14;11(7):e0159575. PubMed PMID: 27414406
• Boyle KE, Patinkin ZW, Shapiro ALB, Bader C, Vanderlinden L, Kechris K, Janssen RC, Ford RJ, Smith BK, Steinberg GR, Davidson EJ, Yang IV, Dabelea D, Friedman JE. Maternal obesity alters fatty acid oxidation, AMPK activity, and associated DNA methylation in mesenchymal stem cells from human infants. Mol Metab. 2017 Nov;6(11):1503-1516. PubMed PMID: 29107296
• Baker PR 2nd, Patinkin Z, Shapiro AL, De La Houssaye BA, Woontner M, Boyle KE, Vanderlinden L, Dabelea D, Friedman JE. Maternal obesity and increased neonatal adiposity correspond with altered infant mesenchymal stem cell metabolism. JCI Insight. 2017 Nov 2;2(21). [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 29093265
• Cavalli G, Justice JN, Boyle KE, D'Alessandro A, Eisenmesser EZ, Herrera JJ, Hansen KC, Nemkov T, Stienstra R, Garlanda C, Mantovani A, Seals DR, Dagna L, Joosten LA, Ballak DB, Dinarello CA. Interleukin 37 reverses the metabolic cost of inflammation, increases oxidative respiration, and improves exercise tolerance. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Feb 28;114(9):2313-2318. PubMed PMID: 28193888
• Boyle KE, Friedman JE, Janssen RC, Underkofler C, Houmard JA, Rasouli N. Metabolic Inflexibility with Obesity and the Effects of Fenofibrate on Skeletal Muscle Fatty Acid Oxidation. Horm Metab Res. 2017 Jan;49(1):50-57. PubMed PMID: 28103623
• Shapiro AL, Boyle KE, Dabelea D, Patinkin ZW, De la Houssaye B, Ringham BM, Glueck DH, Barbour LA, Norris JM, Friedman JE. Nicotinamide Promotes Adipogenesis in Umbilical Cord-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Is Associated with Neonatal Adiposity: The Healthy Start BabyBUMP Project. PLoS One. 2016;11(7):e0159575. PubMed PMID: 27414406
• Boyle KE, Patinkin ZW, Shapiro AL, Baker PR 2nd, Dabelea D, Friedman JE. Mesenchymal Stem Cells From Infants Born to Obese Mothers Exhibit Greater Potential for Adipogenesis: The Healthy Start BabyBUMP Project. Diabetes. 2016 Mar;65(3):647-59. PubMed PMID: 26631736
• Bruce KD, Gorkhali S, Given K, Coates AM, Boyle KE, Macklin WB, Eckel RH. Lipoprotein Lipase Is a Feature of Alternatively-Activated Microglia and May Facilitate Lipid Uptake in the CNS During Demyelination. Front Mol Neurosci. 2018;11:57. PubMed PMID: 29599706
• Reusch JEB, Kumar TR, Regensteiner JG, Zeitler PS. Identifying the Critical Gaps in Research on Sex Differences in Metabolism Across the Life Span. Endocrinology. 2018 Jan 1;159(1):9-19. PubMed PMID: 29300998
• Janssen RC and Boyle KE. Microplate Assays for Spectrophotometric Measurement of Mitochondrial Enzyme Activity. Ed. D’Alessandro A. Methods in Molecular Biology: High-Throughput Metabolomics, Humana Press. 2018.
• Janssen RC, Boyle KE. Microplate Assays for Spectrophotometric Measurement of Mitochondrial Enzyme Activity. Methods Mol Biol. 2019;1978:355-368. PubMed PMID: 31119674
• Boyle KE, Magill-Collins MJ, Newsom SA, Janssen RC, Friedman JE. Maternal Fat-1 Transgene Protects Offspring from Excess Weight Gain, Oxidative Stress, and Reduced Fatty Acid Oxidation in Response to High-Fat Diet. Nutrients. 2020 Mar 14;12(3). PubMed PMID: 32183350
• Keleher MR, Erickson K, Kechris K, Yang IV, Dabelea D, Friedman JE, Boyle KE, Jansson T. Associations between the activity of placental nutrient-sensing pathways and neonatal and postnatal metabolic health: the ECHO Healthy Start cohort. Int J Obes (Lond). 2020 Nov;44(11):2203-2212. PubMed PMID: 32327723
• Starling AP, Liu C, Shen G, Yang IV, Kechris K, Borengasser SJ, Boyle KE, Zhang W, Smith HA, Calafat AM, Hamman RF, Adgate JL, Dabelea D. Prenatal Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, Umbilical Cord Blood DNA Methylation, and Cardio-Metabolic Indicators in Newborns: The Healthy Start Study. Environ Health Perspect. 2020 Dec;128(12):127014. PubMed PMID: 33356526
• Keleher MR, Erickson K, Smith HA, Kechris KJ, Yang IV, Dabelea D, Friedman JE, Boyle KE, Jansson T. Placental Insulin/IGF-1 Signaling, PGC1a, and Inflammatory Pathways are Associated With Metabolic Outcomes at 4-6 years of Age: The ECHO Healthy Start Cohort. Diabetes. 2021 Jan 7. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 33414248
• Francis EC, Dabelea D, Boyle KE, Jansson T, Perng W. Maternal diet quality is associated with placental proteins in the placental insulin/ growth factor, environmental stress, inflammation, and mTOR signaling pathways: The Healthy Start ECHO Cohort. J Nutr. 2021 Nov 26. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 34850052
• Flanagan EW, Most J, Altazan AD, Boyle KE, Redman LM. A role for the early pregnancy maternal milieu in the intergenerational transmission of obesity. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2021 Nov;29(11):1780-1786. PubMed PMID: 34734494
• Erickson ML, Patinkin ZW, Duensing AM, Dabelea D, Redman LM, Boyle KE. Maternal metabolic health drives mesenchymal stem cell metabolism and infant fat mass at birth. JCI Insight. 2021 Jul 8;6(13). PubMed PMID: 34061777
• Keleher MR, Erickson K, Smith HA, Kechris KJ, Yang IV, Dabelea D, Friedman JE, Boyle KE, Jansson T. Placental Insulin/IGF-1 Signaling, PGC-1a, and Inflammatory Pathways Are Associated With Metabolic Outcomes at 4-6 Years of Age: The ECHO Healthy Start Cohort. Diabetes. 2021 Mar;70(3):745-751. PubMed PMID: 33414248
• Gyllenhammer LE, Picard M, McGill MA, Boyle KE, Vawter MP, Rasmussen JM, Buss C, Entringer S, Wadhwa PD. Prospective association between maternal allostatic load during pregnancy and child mitochondrial content and bioenergetic capacity. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2022 Oct;144:105868. PubMed PMID: 35853381
• Chaves AB, Zheng D, Johnson JA, Bergman BC, Patinkin ZW, Zaegel V, Biagioni EM, Krassovskaia P, Broskey NT, May LE, Dabelea D, Houmard JA, Boyle KE. Infant Mesenchymal Stem Cell Insulin Action Is Associated With Maternal Plasma Free Fatty Acids, Independent of Obesity Status: The Healthy Start Study. Diabetes. 2022 Aug 1;71(8):1649-1659. PubMed PMID: 35621990
• Chaves A, Weyrauch LA, Zheng D, Biagioni EM, Krassovskaia PM, Davidson BL, Broskey NT, Boyle KE, May LE, Houmard JA. Influence of Maternal Exercise on Glucose and Lipid Metabolism in Offspring Stem Cells: ENHANCED by Mom. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2022 Jul 14;107(8):e3353-e3365. PubMed PMID: 35511592
• Francis EC, Dabelea D, Boyle KE, Jansson T, Perng W. Maternal Diet Quality Is Associated with Placental Proteins in the Placental Insulin/Growth Factor, Environmental Stress, Inflammation, and mTOR Signaling Pathways: The Healthy Start ECHO Cohort. J Nutr. 2022 Mar 3;152(3):816-825. PubMed PMID: 34850052
• Flanagan EW, Most J, Altazan AD, Boyle KE, Redman LM. A role for the early pregnancy maternal milieu in the intergenerational transmission of obesity. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2021 Nov;29(11):1780-1786. PubMed PMID: 34734494
• Erickson ML, Patinkin ZW, Duensing AM, Dabelea D, Redman LM, Boyle KE. Maternal metabolic health drives mesenchymal stem cell metabolism and infant fat mass at birth. JCI Insight. 2021 Jul 8;6(13). PubMed PMID: 34061777
• Keleher MR, Erickson K, Smith HA, Kechris KJ, Yang IV, Dabelea D, Friedman JE, Boyle KE, Jansson T. Placental Insulin/IGF-1 Signaling, PGC-1a, and Inflammatory Pathways Are Associated With Metabolic Outcomes at 4-6 Years of Age: The ECHO Healthy Start Cohort. Diabetes. 2021 Mar;70(3):745-751. PubMed PMID: 33414248
• Gyllenhammer LE, Duensing AM, Keleher MR, Kechris K, Dabelea D, Boyle KE. Fat content in infant mesenchymal stem cells prospectively associates with childhood adiposity and fasting glucose. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2023 Jan;31(1):37-42. PubMed PMID: 36541155
• Bulka CM, Everson TM, Burt AA, Marsit CJ, Karagas MR, Boyle KE, Niemiec S, Kechris K, Davidson EJ, Yang IV, Feinberg JI, Volk HE, Ladd-Acosta C, Breton CV, O'Shea TM, Fry RC. Sex-based differences in placental DNA methylation profiles related to gestational age: an NIH ECHO meta-analysis. Epigenetics. 2023 Dec;18(1):2179726. PubMed PMID: 36840948
• Keleher MR, Shubhangi S, Brown A, Duensing AM, Lixandrão ME, Gavin KM, Smith HA, Kechris KJ, Yang IV, Dabelea D, Boyle KE. Adipocyte hypertrophy in mesenchymal stem cells from infants of mothers with obesity. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2023 Aug;31(8):2090-2102. PubMed PMID: 37475691
• Waldrop SW, Niemiec S, Wood C, Gyllenhammer LE, Jansson T, Friedman JE, Tryggestad JB, Borengasser SJ, Davidson EJ, Yang IV, Kechris K, Dabelea D, Boyle KE. Cord blood DNA methylation of immune and lipid metabolism genes is associated with maternal triglycerides and child adiposity. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2023 Oct 23. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 37869908
• Song AY, Bulka CM, Niemiec SS, Kechris K, Boyle KE, Marsit CJ, O'Shea TM, Fry RC, Lyall K, Fallin MD, Volk HE, Ladd-Acosta C. Accelerated epigenetic age at birth and child emotional and behavioura development in early childhood: a meta-analysis of four prospective cohort studies in ECHO. Epigenetics. 2023 Dec;18(1):2254971. PubMed PMID: 37691382
• Keleher MR, Shubhangi S, Brown A, Duensing AM, Lixandrão ME, Gavin KM, Smith HA, Kechris KJ, Yang IV, Dabelea D, Boyle KE. Adipocyte hypertrophy in mesenchymal stem cells from infants of mothers with obesity. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2023 Aug;31(8):2090-2102. PubMed PMID: 37475691
• Semnani-Azad Z, Gaillard R, Hughes AE, Boyle KE, Tobias DK, Perng W. Predictors and risk factors of short-term and long-term outcomes among women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and their offspring: Moving toward precision prognosis? Nat. Comm. Accepted.
• Bulka CM, Everson TM, Burt AA, Marsit CJ, Karagas MR, Boyle KE, Niemiec S, Kechris K, Davidson EJ, Yang IV, Feinberg JI, Volk HE, Ladd-Acosta C, Breton CV, O'Shea TM, Fry RC. Sex-based differences in placental DNA methylation profiles related to gestational age: an NIH ECHO meta-analysis. Epigenetics. 2023 Dec;18(1):2179726. PubMed PMID: 36840948
• Gyllenhammer LE, Duensing AM, Keleher MR, Kechris K, Dabelea D, Boyle KE. Fat content in infant mesenchymal stem cells prospectively associates with childhood adiposity and fasting glucose. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2023 Jan;31(1):37-42. PubMed PMID: 36541155
• Tobias DK, Merino J, Ahmad A, Aiken C, Benham JL, Bodhini D, Clark AL, Colclough K, Corcoy R, Cromer SJ, Duan D, Felton JL, Francis EC, Gillard P, Gingras V, Gaillard R, Haider E, Hughes A, Ikle JM, Jacobsen LM, Kahkoska AR, Kettunen JLT, Kreienkamp RJ, Lim LL, Männistö JME, Massey R, Mclennan NM, Miller RG, Morieri ML, Most J, Naylor RN, Ozkan B, Patel KA, Pilla SJ, Prystupa K, Raghavan S, Rooney MR, Schön M, Semnani-Azad Z, Sevilla-Gonzalez M, Svalastoga P, Takele WW, Tam CH, Thuesen ACB, Tosur M, Wallace AS, Wang CC, Wong JJ, Yamamoto JM, Young K, Amouyal C, Andersen MK, Bonham MP, Chen M, Cheng F, Chikowore T, Chivers SC, Clemmensen C, Dabelea D, Dawed AY, Deutsch AJ, Dickens LT, DiMeglio LA, Dudenhöffer-Pfeifer M, Evans-Molina C, Fernández-Balsells MM, Fitipaldi H, Fitzpatrick SL, Gitelman SE, Goodarzi MO, Grieger JA, Guasch-Ferré M, Habibi N, Hansen T, Huang C, Harris-Kawano A, Ismail HM, Hoag B, Johnson RK, Jones AG, Koivula RW, Leong A, Leung GKW, Libman IM, Liu K, Long SA, Lowe WL Jr, Morton RW, Motala AA, Onengut-Gumuscu S, Pankow JS, Pathirana M, Pazmino S, Perez D, Petrie JR, Powe CE, Quinteros A, Jain R, Ray D, Ried-Larsen M, Saeed Z, Santhakumar V, Kanbour S, Sarkar S, Monaco GSF, Scholtens DM, Selvin E, Sheu WH, Speake C, Stanislawski MA, Steenackers N, Steck AK, Stefan N, Støy J, Taylor R, Tye SC, Ukke GG, Urazbayeva M, Van der Schueren B, Vatier C, Wentworth JM, Hannah W, White SL, Yu G, Zhang Y, Zhou SJ, Beltrand J, Polak M, Aukrust I, de Franco E, Flanagan SE, Maloney KA, McGovern A, Molnes J, Nakabuye M, Njølstad PR, Pomares-Millan H, Provenzano M, Saint-Martin C, Zhang C, Zhu Y, Auh S, de Souza R, Fawcett AJ, Gruber C, Mekonnen EG, Mixter E, Sherifali D, Eckel RH, Nolan JJ, Philipson LH, Brown RJ, Billings LK, Boyle K, Costacou T, Dennis JM, Florez JC, Gloyn AL, Gomez MF, Gottlieb PA, Greeley SAW, Griffin K, Hattersley AT, Hirsch IB, Hivert MF, Hood KK, Josefson JL, Kwak SH, Laffel LM, Lim SS, Loos RJF, Ma RCW, Mathieu C, Mathioudakis N, Me... Second international consensus report on gaps and opportunities for the clinical translation of precision diabetes medicine. Nat Med. 2023 Oct;29(10):2438-2457. PubMed PMID: 37794253
• Starling AP, Friedman C, Boyle KE, Adgate JL, Glueck DH, Allshouse WB, Calafat AM, Bloemsma LD, Dabelea D. Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and early childhood adiposity and cardiometabolic health in the Healthy Start study. Int J Obes (Lond). 2023 Dec 2. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 38042932
• Ortega-Santos CP, Pinto AJ, Whipple MO, Pan Z, Boyle KE, Melanson EL, Masters KS, Bessesen DH, Bergouignan A. Breaking up sedentary time to improve glucose control in a population at risk for developing type 2 diabetes (BURST2D study): a randomized controlled trial. Int J Clin Trials. 2023. Feb;10(1):34-44.

Professional Memberships

• The Obesity Society, Member
• American Diabetes Association, Member
• American Society for Nutrition, Member, Past Chair: Maternal, Perinatal and Pediatric Nutrition Research Interest Section

Practice Locations

Hospital Affiliation

• Children's Hospital Colorado

Center Affiliations

• Center for Women's Health Research
• Center For Human Nutrition
• Colorado Clinical & Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI)