Dr. Satchin Panda, Ph.D., is a full professor in the Salk Institute for Biological Studies’ Department of Regulatory Biology.
He is fascinated by the molecular processes of the biological clock. In most species, the biological clock, also known as the circadian oscillator, regulates behavior and physiology with the natural light-dark and food cycles.
His team employs genetic, genomics, pharmacological, and behavioral techniques to find and understand the mechanisms of circadian control in many organs.
His study is also attempting to identify the process by which the circadian oscillator is synced to the natural light-dark cycle.
Works
Dr. Satchin Panda investigates the genes, chemicals, and cells that maintain the entire body running on the same circadian clock. The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus is at the core of the body’s master clock and receives direct input from light sensors in the eyes, keeping the rest of the body on schedule.
Dr. Satchin Panda figured out how these light sensors operate, as well as how cellular timekeepers in other sections of the bodywork. He also discovered a unique blue-light sensor in the retina that analyses ambient light and determines when to sleep and wake up each day.
Dr. Satchin Panda describes his work in his book named, “The Circadian Code: Lose Weight, Supercharge Your Energy, and Transform Your Health from Morning to Midnight”
Social Media
Dr. Satchin Panda at Instagram
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Inspiring Talks by Dr. Satchin Panda
Interview
Notable quotes
- “Sitting here in my lab, I can imagine you scratching your head again: Dr. Panda, what’s the big deal? Aren’t we talking about just a few ounces of fat gain after a late-night snack? Won’t my metabolic rhythm come back the next day? Actually, it’s worse than you think. It is hard enough for the body to monitor hormones, genes, and clocks for someone with a strict eating routine.”
- “Our modern lifestyle, in which we spend most of our time indoors looking at bright screens and turn on bright lights at night, activates melanopsin at the wrong times of day and night, which then disrupts our circadian rhythms and reduces the production of the sleep hormone melatonin; as a result, we cannot get restorative sleep. When we wake up the next day and spend most of the day indoors, the dim indoor light cannot fully activate melanopsin, which means that we cannot align our circadian clock to the day-night cycle, making us feel sleepy and less alert. After a few days or weeks, we get into depression and anxiety.”
- “lots of light during the day, no light at night, less noise, relatively cooler temperatures at night, and earlier dinner. Each of these factors has been shown to contribute to better sleep.”
- “When to Get a Flu Shot Plan your vaccination day in advance, and try to get a week’s worth of good sleep beforehand. In one study, when participants had poor sleep for a few days before vaccination, nearly half of them showed a significantly delayed response to the vaccine.13 This raises an important issue about the flu vaccine, as some people who are inoculated do not develop protection against the flu.”
- “Eating all your meals within 8-10 (maximum 12) hours holds the fountain of health.”
- “Couple of papers from the 70s and 80s found a small number of women (not men) who abruptly reduced caloric intake and ate within a smaller window for rapid weight loss may have bile sludge. Those studies lack data on hydration level, smoking and what they ate.”
- “Thyroid hormone – Being low on this important hormone can impact almost every organ in our body. The good news is the treatment is simple.”
- “The language of time has become the language of health”
- “Our genes are no longer the master conductor, our behavior is the master conductor of all our internal rhythms.”
- ‘The brain is the command center and if that command center is not repaired and reset and rejuvenated then everything else suffers. So that’s why sleep is important.”