A Columbia Engineering team led by Sam Sia, professor of biomedical engineering, has developed a simple, innovative method to directly convert white fat to brown fat outside the body and then reimplant it in a patient.
The technique uses fat-grafting procedures commonly performed by plastic surgeons, in which fat is harvested from under the skin and then retransplanted into the same patient for cosmetic or reconstructive purposes.
The researchers are now refining their techniques and dosages and running further studies on the impact of their methods on metabolism and weight regulation.
According to the scientists, this is an exciting advance towards engineered brown adipose tissue in clinical applications if it is proven to be safe and effective in humans.