Charles R Evans

 labcoat
Associate Research Scientist
Internal Medicine and Program Director
Metabolomics Core
Medical School
[email protected]
Available to mentor
Charles R Evans
labcoat
Associate Research Scientist
  • Qualifications
  • Center Memberships
  • Research Overview
  • Recent Publications

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    • Qualifications
    • PhD
      University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
      2002 - 2007
    • BA
      Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, IL, United States
      1998 - 2002

    Center Memberships
    • Center Member
      Caswell Diabetes Institute

    Research Overview

    • Understanding the connection between exercise, exercise capacity, and metabolic health in humans. High exercise capacity (VO2max) is associated with reduced risk of multiple diseases and increased longevity. Likewise, regular physical activity has myriad health benefits. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the health benefits of exercise and exercise capacity remain incompletely understood. Through my own studies and through participation in the NIH-funded Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium (MoTrPAC), I am using metabolomics and other tools of systems biology to investigate molecular signals associated with acute exercise and total exercise capacity. A key focus is understanding the set of intrinsic and training-induced molecular adaptations in skeletal muscle and other organs of individuals with high exercise capacity that allow a delayed switchover from fat to carbohydrate oxidation during moderate to high intensity exercise.
    • Development of improved analytical methodology for compound identification and quantitation in metabolomics. As a bioanalytical chemist, I am interested in developing improved methodologies to tackle the long-standing challenge of identifying the high proportion of unknown features in untargeted metabolomics data. Moving from unknown features to known compounds mapped to metabolic pathways helps increase the impact of metabolomics data on systems-level understanding of human disease. Additionally, I am working to develop methods which enable higher-sensitivity, reliably quantitative study of a broader range of metabolites in biological samples. To accomplish these goals, I leverage my experience in small and large-molecule mass spectrometry, conventional and nanoscale liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, and multidimensional separations.
    • Metabolic studies in an animal model of the metabolic syndrome. Reductions in oxidative capacity have been associated with diseases such as the metabolic syndrome and diabetes. I am studying a strain of rats bred by artificial selection for low and high endurance exercise capacity. Using mass-spectrometry based metabolomics, I aim to detect alterations in metabolism that are associated with reduced oxidative capacity and that may play a role in insulin resistance and obesity. I am also integrating genetic and metabolomic data to differentiate the training-induced and intrinsic contributions to exercise capacity. The research will contribute to understanding of metabolic disease and may offer targets for future treatments
    • In vitro and in vivo methods for quantitation of metabolic flux. The study of alterations in cellular metabolism caused by disease requires not only quantification of metabolite concentrations, but also measurement of rates of flux through metabolic pathways. Using stable isotope tracers, I am developing improved methods to quantify metabolic flux and am applying these techniques to studies of cultured cells, isolated tissue, and whole animals, including the low- and high-capacity running rats described above.

    Recent Publications

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    • Journal Article
      Multi-omic identification of key transcriptional regulatory programs during endurance exercise training in rats
      Smith GR, Zhao B, Lindholm ME, Raja A, Viggars M, Pincas H, Gay NR, Sun Y, Vangeti S, Ge Y, Nair VD, Sanford JA, Amper MAS, Vasoya M, Smith KS, Ramos I, Montgomery SB, Zaslavsky E, Bodine SC, Esser KA, Walsh MJ, Snyder MP, Sealfon SC, Zhen J, Zhang T, Zebarjadi N, Zaslavsky E, Zang C, Yu X, Yan Z, Xia A, Wu S, Williams JP, Wheeler MT, Walsh MJ, Walkup MP, Vornholt A, Volpi E, Vetr NG, Uppal K, Trappe TA, Trappe S, Tracy R, Tibshirani R, Thyfault J, Thalacker-Mercer A, Teng C, Stowe CL, Steep A, Sparks LM, Oliveira De Sousa LG, Soni T, Seenarine N, Schwartz RS, Schenk S, Schauer IE, Savage EM, Samdarshi M, Sagendorf TJ, Rushing S, Ruf-Zamojski F, Rubenstein AB, Rooney JL, Robbins JM, Rirak S, Richards CZT, Rejeski WJ, Rector RS, Ravussin E, Rasmussen BB, Raskind AS, Rankinen T, Ramaker ME, Ramachandran K, Raja AN, Radom-Aizik S, Qian WJ, Presby DM, Powers S, Piehowski PD, Petyuk VA, Pearce C, Pahor M, Ortlund EA, Nudelman G, Nigro P, Nicklas B, Nestor MD, Nair KS, Nair VD, Nachun D, Musi N, Mundorff CC, Moreau KL, Moore RJ, Moore SG, Montgomery SB, Monroe ME. Nature Communications, 2026 Dec 1; 17 (1): DOI:10.1038/s41467-026-70397-0
      PMID: 41862462
    • Journal Article
      Publisher Correction: The impact of exercise on gene regulation in association with complex trait genetics (Nature Communications, (2024), 15, 1, (3346), 10.1038/s41467-024-45966-w)
      Vetr NG, Gay NR, Zhen J, Zhao B, Zhang T, Zebarjadi N, Zaslavsky E, Zang C, Yu X, Yan Z, Xia A, Wu S, Williams JP, Wheeler MT, Walsh MJ, Walkup MP, Vornholt A, Volpi E, Vasoya M, Vangeti S, Uppal K, Trappe TA, Trappe S, Tracy R, Tibshirani R, Thyfault J, Thalacker-Mercer A, Teng C, Sun Y, Stowe CL, Steep A, Sparks LM, Oliveira De Sousa LG, Soni T, Snyder MP, Smith GR, Smith KS, Seenarine N, Sealfon SC, Schwartz RS, Schenk S, Schauer IE, Savage EM, Sanford JA, Samdarshi M, Sagendorf TJ, Rushing S, Ruf-Zamojski F, Rubenstein AB, Rooney JL, Robbins JM, Rirak S, Richards CZT, Rejeski WJ, Rector RS, Ravussin E, Rasmussen BB, Raskind AS, Rankinen T, Ramos I, Ramaker ME, Ramachandran K, Raja AN, Radom-Aizik S, Qian WJ, Presby DM, Powers S, Pincas H, Piehowski PD, Petyuk VA, Pearce C, Pahor M, Ortlund EA, Nudelman G, Nigro P, Nicklas B, Nestor MD, Nair KS, Nair VD, Nachun D, Musi N, Mundorff CC, Moreau KL, Moore RJ, Moore SG, Monroe ME, Miller ME, Melanson EL, May S, Marwaha S, Marshall A, Marjanovic N, Many GM, Mani DR, Maner-Smith KM, Makarewicz NS, Lu CJ, Liu X, Lira AK, Lindholm ME. Nature Communications, 2026 Dec 1; 17 (1): DOI:10.1038/s41467-026-72505-6
      PMID: 42045212
    • Preprint
      Adaptation of white adipocytes to cooler temperatures: impacts on energy metabolism and protein acetylation
      Mori H, Hariri H, Moe W, Durham S, Guzman Y, Paulsson E, Simmermon RC, Bhanderi PB, Peterson SK, Dickson MJ, Evans CR, MacDougald OA. 2026 Apr 19; bioRxiv, DOI:10.64898/2026.04.14.718465
    • Preprint
      Multi-Omic, Multi-Tissue Responses to Acute Exercise in Sedentary Adults: Findings from the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium
      Group MS, Katz DH, Jin CA, Many GM, Smith GR, Keshishian H, Clark NM, Iyer G, Ahn C, Lindholm ME, Sagendorf TJ, Amar D, Barber JL, Brandt AR, Coen PM, Ge Y, Hart P, Hsu F-C, Jaeger BC, Jimenez-Morales D, Leach DT, Mani DR, Montalvo S, Pincas H, Rao P, Sanford JA, Smith KS, Vetr NG, Adkins JN, Ashley EA, Carr SA, Miller ME, Montgomery SB, Nair VD, Robbins JM, Snyder MP, Sparks LM, Tracy R, Walsh MJ, Wheeler MT, Xia AY, Sealfon SC, Gerszten RE, Trappe S, Burant CF, Goodpaster BH, Assi HA, Amper MAS, Andonian BJ, Attah IK, Belangee A, Bergman BC, Bessesen DH, Bodine SC, Boyd GA, Broskey NT, Buford TW, Chambers TL, Martinez CC, Chikina M, Claiborne A, Clayton ZS, Clish CB, Collins-Bennett KA, Cooper DM, Cortes TM, Cutter GR, Douglass M, Espinoza SE, Evans CR, Fernandez FM, Fleischman JY, Forman DE, Fountain WA, Gaul DA, Gervais C, Gouw AH, Gries KJ, Gritsenko MA, Haddad F, Hansen JR, Hastie T, Hou Z, Houmard JA, Huffman KM, Hughes RP, Hutchinson-Bunch CM, Ilkayeva O, Jakicic JM, Jankowski CM, Jean-Beltran PM, Johannsen NM, Johnson JL, Kachman MT, Kershaw EE, Kohrt WM, Kraus WE, Kuszmaul DJ, Lester B, Lu M, Lynch CE, Marjanovic N, May ST, Melanson EL, Milind N, Monroe ME, Montenegro C, Moore RJ, Moreau KL, Musi N, Naruse M, Newgard CB, Nindl BC, Nudelman G, Okwara N-L, Ortlund EA, Petyuk VA, Piehowski PD, Popoli D, Qian W-J, Radom-Aizik S, Rankinen T, Raskind A, Raskind A, Rasmussen BB, Raue U, Ravussin E, Rector RS, Rejeski WJ, Rigdon J, Rirak S, Robbins E, Robinson M, Rogers KR, Rogers RJ, Rooney JL, Schauer IE, Schwartz RS, Simmons CG, Skiles CM, Soni T, Stefanovic-Racic M, Stowe CL, Stroh AM, Sun Y, Sutton KJ, Thalacker-Mercer A, Tibshirani R, Trappe TA, Vasoya M, Vincenty CS, Volpi E, Vornholt A, Whytock KL, Wiggins A, Xie Y, Yoon G, Yu J, Yu X, Zaslavsky E, Zhang Z, Zhao B, Zhen J. 2026 Mar 13; bioRxiv, DOI:10.64898/2026.02.27.702183
    • Journal Article
      Metabolic regulation of behavior by the intestinal enzyme FMO-2
      Kitto ES, Beydoun S, Henry E, Schaller ML, Bhandari M, Easow SA, Tuckowski AM, Howington MB, Bhat A, Sridhar A, Chung E, Evans CR, Leiser SF. Science Advances, 2025 Oct 24; 11 (43): DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adx3018
    • Journal Article
      Sampling Probes Microfabricated from Parylene‑C for In Vivo Neurochemical Monitoring
      White T, Bain I, Cain CN, Popov P, Evans CR, Kennedy RT. ACS Measurement Science Au, 2025 Oct 25; DOI:10.1021/acsmeasuresciau.5c00102
    • Preprint
      Integrative multi-omics uncovers skeletal muscle enhancer programming of cardiorespiratory fitness
      Weitzel AM, Orchard P, Evans CR, Manickam N, Treutelaar MK, Britton SL, Koch L, Li JZ, Parker SCJ, Burant CF. 2025 Oct 7; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, DOI:10.1101/2025.10.02.679855
    • Journal Article
      The impact of exercise on gene regulation in association with complex trait genetics.
      Vetr NG, Gay NR, MoTrPAC Study Group , Montgomery SB. Nat Commun, 2024 May 1; 15 (1): 3346 DOI:10.1038/s41467-024-45966-w
      PMID: PMC11063075