Donna Vine

Biography

Dr. Donna Vine trained as a physiologist and biochemistry scientist in both Australia and Canada. She joined the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science at the University of Alberta in 2004 and went on to become an an Associate Professor in 2011. Area of focus: Evaluating the impact of nutrition and chronic disease on intestinal lipid metabolism.

Research Interest

We have made extensive contributions to the study of intestinal chylomicrons, which has lead to the discovery that the impairment of intestinal chylomicron metabolism leads to an accumulation of these particles in the circulation. We have been the first to provide evidence that dietary derived cholesterol oxidation products are rapidly absorbed by the intestine, are incorporated into intestinal chylomicrons and transported to the circulation. We have discovered using intestinal ‘Ussing’ diffusion techniques that dietary type and amount can influence both the histological integrity and the physiological transport processes of the intestine. We developed a novel surgical (in-situ perfusion) and analytical methods (con-focal microscopy) to determine the permeability of intestinal chylomicron-remnants into arterial vessels. We have pioneered the development of an animal model to investigate the pathophysiology of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and the development of insulin resistance and dyslipidemia in PCOS.