Catherine Yeckel, PhD

Catherine Weikart Yeckel, MS, Ph.D. is an Assistant Clinical Professor. She received a master’s degree in exercise physiology from the University of Pittsburgh and a doctoral degree from University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB)-Galveston in preventive medicine and community health in the areas of human metabolism and nutrition. In collaboration with researchers at UTMB-Galveston, and more recently with researchers and clinicians specializing in pediatric and adult endocrinology at the Yale School of Medicine, she focused her research interests along the spectrum of insulin resistance and ß-cell dysfunction. These interests broadly include cardiometabolic health issues and protection as a consequence of obesity from young to old age, and physical activity/fitness from sedentary to physically fit. She has used physiological challenge models to unmask the impact of arsenic exposure on blood pressure (stress) hyperreactivity, and most recently, to help innovate imaging for brown adipose tissue metabolism in human. Dr. Yeckel created and directs an integrative course for YSPH, Physiology of Public Health. She also initiated and co-directed The Art of Public Health workshops involving MPH and MA student match-ups between YSPH and YSA. She serves as a reviewer/scientific advisor and consultant for diverse entities, including government agencies, museums and companies.