Yair Pincu
Assistant Professor, Health and Exercise Science
Exercise Metabolism Laboratory
1401 Asp Ave Room #109 SFC
405-325-5211
ypincu at ou dot edu
https://
Ph.D., Exercise Physiology – Univ. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2016Research:
Dr. Pincu’s laboratory research focuses on the interaction between exercise, health and metabolic dysfunction. Specifically, we study the effects of physical activity on metabolic health in individuals living with obesity and individuals living with diabetes. Dr. Pincu has an extensive background in exercise physiology, utilizing both human and animal models of metabolic dysfunction. Dr. Pincu specializes in molecular aspects of exercise physiology and clinical aspects of exercise in obesity, type 1 diabetes and glucose control. The laboratory utilizes a broad range of measurement tools and techniques to evaluate aerobic capacity, resting metabolic rate, metabolic flexibility, genotyping, gene expression, circulating proteins and miRNA.
Selected Publications:
Zemer, A., Haim, Y., Tsitrina, A. A., Chalifa-Caspi, V., Muallem, H., Pincu, Y., Wong, G. W., Yoel, U., Monsonego, A., and Rudich, A. (2025) Weight loss aggravates obesity-induced hypothalamic inflammation in mid-aged mice. GeroScience, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-025-01933-x.
Zemer, A., Samaei, S., Yoel, U., Biderman, A., and Pincu, Y. (2024) Ketogenic Diet in Clinical Populations-A Narrative Review. Front. Med.: 11:1432717.
Makarenkov, N., Yoel, U., Haim, Y., Pincu, Y., Bhandarkar, N., Shalev, A., Shelef, I., Liberty, I. F., Ben-Arie, G., Yardeni, D., Rudich, A., Etzion, O., Veksler-Lublinsky, I. (2024) Circulating isomiRs May Be Superior Biomarkers to Their Corresponding Canonical miRNAs: A Pilot Biomarker Study of the isomiR-ome to Detect Coronary Calcium-based Cardiovascular Risk in Patients with NAFLD. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 25(2): 890.
Makarenkov, N., Haim, Y., Yoel, U., Pincu, Y., Tarnovscki, T., Liberty, I. F., Kukeev,. I, Baraf, L., Dukhno, O., Zilber, O., Blüher, M., Rudich, A., and Veksler-Lublinsky, I.(2024) Circulating miRNAs detect high versus low visceral adipose tissue inflammation in patients living with obesity. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 109(3): 858-867.
Pincu, Y., Makarenkov, N., Tsitrina, A. A., Rosengarten-Levine, M., Haim, Y., Yoel, U., Liberty, I. F., Dukhno, O., Kukeev, I., Blüher, M., Veksler-Lublinsky, I., and Rudich, A. (2023) Visceral Adipocyte Size Links Obesity with Dysmetabolism More Than Fibrosis, and Both Can Be Estimated by Circulating miRNAs. Obesity 12: 2986-2997.
Pincu, Y., Yoel, U., Haim, Y., Makarenkov, N., Maixner, N., Shaco-Levy, R., Bashan, N., Dicker, D., and Rudich, A. (2022) Assessing Obesity-related Adipose tissue Disease to improve precision care of patients with obesity. Frontiers in Endocrinology 13: 860799.
Pincu, Y., Tryggestad, J. B., Teague, A. M., and Short, K. R. (2022) The effect of a high-fat meal on heart rate variability and arterial compliance in adolescents with or without type 1 diabetes. Journal of Diabetes Complications 36(3):108130.
Tamayo, M. C., Dobbs, P. D., and Pincu, Y. (2021) Family-Centered Interventions for Treatment and Prevention of Childhood Obesity in Hispanic Families: A Systematic Review. Journal of Community Health 46(3): 635-643.
Pincu, Y., Linden, M. A., Zou, K., Baynard, T., and Boppart, M. D. (2015) The effects of high fat diet and moderate exercise on TGFβ1 and collagen deposition in mouse skeletal muscle. Cytokine 73(1): 23-29.
Pincu, Y., Huntsman, H. D., Zou, K., De Lisio, M., Mahmassani, Z. S., Munroe, M. R., Garg, K., Jensen, T., and Boppart, M. D. (2016) Diet-induced obesity regulates adipose-resident stromal cell quantity and extracellular matrix gene expression. Stem Cell Research 17(1): 181-190.