Overview
Olga Ilkayeva, Ph.D., is the Director of the Metabolomics Core Laboratory at Duke Molecular Physiology Institute. She received her Ph.D. training in Cell Regulation from UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, TX. Her postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Chris Newgard at Duke University Medical Center focused on lipid metabolism and regulation of insulin secretion. As a research scientist at the Stedman Nutrition and Metabolism Center, Dr. Ilkayeva expanded her studies to include the development of targeted mass spectrometry analyses. Currently, she works on developing and validating quantitative mass spectrometry methods used for metabolic profiling of various biological models with emphasis on diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and the role of gut microbiome in both health and disease.
Current Duke Appointments & Affiliations
Assistant Professor in Medicine
·
2020 - Present
Medicine, Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Nutrition,
Medicine
Member of Duke Molecular Physiology Institute
·
2020 - Present
Duke Molecular Physiology Institute,
Institutes and Centers
Recent Scholarly Works
Microbiotas from extremely preterm infants with growth faltering impair postnatal growth and metabolism in mice.
Journal article JCI Insight · August 10, 2026 Postnatal growth faltering is a pervasive problem among extremely preterm infants that is independently associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. We previously observed that preterm infants with poor postnatal growth have altered development of ... Full text Link to item CiteBranched chain amino acid metabolism and microbiome in adolescents with obesity during weight loss therapy.
Journal article J Clin Invest · July 15, 2026 BACKGROUNDObesity and weight loss in adults have been associated with distinct metabolome and gut microbiome features, but the extent to which those associations apply to adolescent stages remain unclear.METHODSThe Pediatric Obesity Microbiome and Metaboli ... Full text Link to item CiteIntegrated proteomic and metabolomic analyses implicate redox-metabolic pathways in PTSD-associated multisystem disease and accelerated aging.
Journal article Nat Commun · June 20, 2026 Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with increased risk of chronic disease and premature aging, yet underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. We performed plasma proteomics (SomaScan; 9404 proteins) and targeted metabolomics (145 metab ... Full text Link to item CiteRecent Grants
North Carolina Diabetes Research Center (NCDRC) - Duke site
ResearchInvestigator · Awarded by Wake Forest University Health Sciences · 2020 - 2028The Role of RBC Reactive Oxygen Species in Regulating Thrombotic Events During Aging
ResearchCollaborator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2021 - 2026NCDRC P&F April 2022
ResearchCollaborator · Awarded by Wake Forest University · 2021 - 2023View All Grants
Education
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Medical School ·
2002
Ph.D.