Frances Sladek

Little-known oil hidden in most popular foods linked with life-threatening condition

tomwt — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 22:12:21 +0000

Little-known oil hidden in most popular foods linked with life-threatening condition tomwt Wed, 12/03/2025 - 14:12 More CNAS in the Media Rebekah Jordan | UNILAD Tech December 03, 2025

UNILAD TECH - A recent study has revealed a little-known oil hidden in everyday foods may be causing a life-threatening condition.

Scientists are constantly uncovering hidden health connections that we didn't previously understand. From discovering health conditions that can accelerate Alzheimer's development by a third, to revealing extreme side effects of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, researchers continue finding surprising links between various factors and how our bodies respond.

Now, a new study has turned attention to one of the most common vegetable oils that might be contributing to weight gain.

Soybean oil isn't something most people cook with directly, but it's often found in processed foods like salad dressings, margarine and crisps.

Previous studies have linked soybean oil consumption to weight gain, but couldn't determine exactly why only certain people experience significant weight gain after consuming it.

“Soybean oil isn’t inherently evil,” said Frances Sladek, professor of cell biology at the University of California. “But the quantities in which we consume it is triggering pathways our bodies didn’t evolve to handle.”

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Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology

Frances Sladek

Study links obesity to popular cooking oil

tomwt — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 23:51:58 +0000

Study links obesity to popular cooking oil tomwt Mon, 12/01/2025 - 15:51 More CNAS in the Media Hollie Silverman | Newsweek November 30, 2025

NEWSWEEK - Scientists at University of California, Riverside, found that soybean oil contributes to obesity in a study involving mice.

The oil creates specific fat-derived molecules—oxylipins—that alter liver metabolism and increase fat accumulation, the study, which was published in the Journal of Lipid Research last month, concluded.

Researchers observed that mice fed a high-fat diet rich in soybean oil, the most widely consumed cooking oil in the United States, gained significant weight.

“Soybean oil isn’t inherently evil. But the quantities in which we consume it is triggering pathways our bodies didn’t evolve to handle," study author Sonia Deol said in a press release issued by UC Riverside.

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Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology

Frances Sladek

Unexpected weight gain linked to a common cooking oil

tomwt — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 19:26:03 +0000

Unexpected weight gain linked to a common cooking oil tomwt Mon, 12/01/2025 - 11:26 More CNAS in the Media Sanjana Gajbhiye | Earth.com November 28, 2025

EARTH.COM - Soybean oil is so common that it often goes unnoticed, appearing in home kitchens, restaurant meals, and countless ultra-processed foods.

But new research finds that this everyday ingredient does far more than contribute calories – it can nudge the body’s metabolism in unexpected ways.

A long series of studies from UC Riverside (UCR) show how this happens and why some people react more strongly than others.

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Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology

Frances Sladek

The newest reason to follow a low-fat diet... ward off Covid!

tomwt — Thu, 11 Jan 2024 17:00:53 +0000

The newest reason to follow a low-fat diet... ward off Covid! tomwt Thu, 01/11/2024 - 09:00 More CNAS in the Media Alexa Lardieri | DailyMail.com January 04, 2024

THE DAILY MAIL - There are more benefits to following a healthy low-fat diet than shedding pounds and dropping a few pant sizes. Now, scientists have discovered eating less fat could also help protect you against infectious diseases like Covid-19.

Researchers from the University of California - Riverside found 'concerning' changes in gene expression - how your genes are physically expressed - in subjects that followed diets high in fat.

Results of the study showed high-fat diets increased the gene expression of proteins in the body that are used by Covid spike proteins to enter and infect a host.

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Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology

Frances Sladek

California adds online triage for Coronavirus to help with test shortages

ilseu — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 00:39:38 +0000

California adds online triage for Coronavirus to help with test shortages ilseu Tue, 03/17/2020 - 17:39 More CNAS in the Media Rachel Becker | CalMatters March 16, 2020

CALMATTERS - California still does not have enough capacity to test for coronavirus, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Sunday, despite furious efforts by private, university and government laboratories to scale up to handle thousands of more patients.

“The PCR is the really easy part,” said Frances Sladek, a professor of cell biology and toxicology as well as the divisional dean of life sciences at UC Riverside. Freshmen who have never touched scientific instruments learn in a lab course how to run PCR well enough to identify species of fish from the filets at a store, Sladek said. That’s why it’s so incomprehensible to her, she said, “that there’s any problem at all with this.”

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CNAS names new Divisional Dean of Life Sciences

edraws — Tue, 18 Jun 2019 16:36:04 +0000

CNAS names new Divisional Dean of Life Sciences edraws Tue, 06/18/2019 - 09:36 More College News May 04, 2017 Riverside, Ca

Frances Sladek will succeed Peter Atkinson on July 1, 2017

Frances Sladek, professor of cell biology and toxicologist, has been named the Divisional Dean for Life Sciences in the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS). She will succeed Peter Atkinson, professor of entomology, who has served in this position since 2012. Sladek’s three-year appointment begins July 1, 2017.

“Frances’ intimate knowledge of campus, which includes research and teaching collaborations, combined with her remarkable research record makes her well suited to lead the Division of Life Sciences,” said CNAS Dean Kathryn Uhrich. “She represents a key department within the Life Sciences and her deep experience in building research programs will further the success of our faculty and students.”

Sladek received her doctoral degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University. She joined UC Riverside in 1992, after a postdoctoral fellowship at The Rockefeller University, NY. The associate director of the UCR Stem Cell Center, she specializes in molecular endocrinology. Specifically, her research explores the mechanisms involved in tissue-specific gene expression and investigates how these mechanisms relate to various human diseases, such as obesity, diabetes and cancer.

“I am very pleased to be named the Divisional Dean of Life Sciences,” Sladek said. “I have enjoyed seeing UCR grow during the past 25 years that I have been on campus, and look forward to continue helping the college and the campus realize their full potential. This position will allow me to help affect that change. It is an exciting time of growth and I am confident that with the great faculty and UCR spirit of interaction and collaboration we can accelerate our momentum towards becoming one of the most desirable campuses in the UC system.”

At UCR, the Life Science Divisional Dean oversees four departments: biochemistry, biology, cell biology and neurosciences, and plant pathology and microbiology. Sladek’s immediate plans as Divisional Dean are to build on Atkinson’s success in recruiting the best faculty and securing the resources they need to realize their full potential.

“Faculty expansion and success will naturally lead to expanded graduate programs, both in terms of quantity as well as quality, and help us to attract the best undergraduate students,” Sladek said. “Celebrating and promoting our existing faculty, many of whom are world leaders in their disciplines, will continue to be as important as recruiting new faculty.”

Sladek’s research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for more than 18 years. While she is best known for her work on nuclear receptors, her most recent research on the impact of soybean oil on obesity, diabetes and fatty liver has received considerable attention in both the scientific and lay press.

The author/coauthor of nearly 70 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals that have been cited ~5900 times, Sladek has served on several editorial boards as well as grant review panels for the NIH and the American Cancer Society, and the Annual Meeting Steering Committee of the Endocrine Society.

At UCR she has served as Graduate Adviser and/or on the executive committee for four graduate programs in the life sciences as well as on numerous search committees for faculty hires in a variety of departments. She played an instrumental role in the founding of both the Institute of Integrated Genome Biology and the UCR Stem Cell Center, and has been active in the Academic Senate where she has chaired Scholarships and Honors and Charges and served on Committee on Committees.

She has taught cancer biology to undergraduates for more than 20 years and advanced molecular biology to graduate students for 12 years. She has mentored 15 Ph.D. students, 13 postdoctoral fellows and more than 65 undergraduates.

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Frances Sladek