Farnaz Shamsi

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Researchers map how a single protein builds the calorie-burning infrastructure inside brown fat

As of May 2026: Leading SLIT3/brown fat research program at NYU

Every obesity drug on the market works by suppressing appetite — making people eat less. A team led by NYU researcher Farnaz Shamsi has mapped a completely different route: the protein SLIT3. An enzyme slices SLIT3 in two, and each half independently builds the blood vessels and nerve wiring that brown fat needs to burn calories as heat. The discovery, published in Nature Communications and validated in tissue from more than 1,500 people, identifies multiple molecular targets that could be turned into drugs.

Updated May 30

Notable Quotes

"Our research shows that just having brown fat isn't enough — you need the right infrastructure within the tissue for heat production." — Farnaz Shamsi, NYU

from Researchers map how a single protein builds the calorie-burning infrastructure inside brown fat · Updated May 30

"It works as a split signal, which is an elegant evolutionary design in which two components of a single factor independently regulate distinct processes that must be tightly coordinated in space and time." — Farnaz Shamsi, NYU

from Researchers map how a single protein builds the calorie-burning infrastructure inside brown fat · Updated May 30