David Mangelsdorf’s research focuses on two signal transduction pathways with therapeutic potential for treating diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cancer, and parasitism. The first pathway is governed by nuclear hormone receptors, a class of ligand-dependent transcription factors that affect numerous developmental and metabolic processes. The second pathway is mediated by the endocrine fibroblast growth factors FGF19 and FGF21, which control energy metabolism in response to nutrient availability. Mangelsdorf and his team seek to understand the molecular and physiological components of these pathways, using approaches in biochemistry, pharmacology, physiology, and structural biology.