Dr. Logan Townsend Appointed Assistant Professor at LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center

July 1, 2026 · Baton Rouge, LA

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Dr. Townsend to direct the Center’s new Integrative Stress Metabolism Laboratory

LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Logan Townsend as an Assistant Professor, effective July 1. Dr. Townsend, most recently a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Metabolism, Obesity and Diabetes Research at McMaster University in Canada, will lead the newly established Integrative Stress Metabolism Laboratory at Pennington Biomedical.

“Joining Pennington Biomedical is a tremendous honor, and I am excited to begin this next chapter,” Dr. Townsend said. “I can’t imagine a better environment to study the connection between two of our country’s most pressing health concerns: metabolic disease and mental health. Pennington Biomedical’s world-class collaborators, exceptional facilities and strong commitment to translating discoveries into better health make it an ideal place to build this research program. I look forward to contributing to the Center’s outstanding reputation and to getting to know the Pennington Biomedical community.”

Dr. Townsend works at the intersection of metabolic and mental health, emphasizing peripheral circulating factors and their contribution to anxiety and depression in cardiometabolic diseases, including obesity and diabetes. Extending on his recent work identifying GDF15 as a novel factor contributing to anxiety, Townsend will continue to investigate GDF15 while looking to uncover other factors in the hopes of improving both metabolic and mental health.

“Dr. Townsend’s research addresses a critically important and emerging area of science exploring the connection between metabolic disease and mental health,” said Dr. Jennifer Rood, Interim Senior Vice Chancellor and Executive Director of Pennington Biomedical. “His work investigating how circulating factors influence anxiety and depression in obesity and diabetes aligns strongly with our mission to improve health through discovery. We are excited to welcome him to our faculty and look forward to the impact his research program will make.”

Dr. Townsend earned his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology – Exercise Physiology from the University of Lethbridge in 2013, his Master of Science in Kinesiology – Exercise Physiology from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2016 and a doctorate in Human Health and Nutritional Science from the University of Guelph in 2020.

As part of his doctoral training at the University of Guelph, Dr. Townsend worked at Pennington Biomedical with Dr. Christopher Morrison, John S. McIlhenny Endowed Professor in Nutritional Neuroscience and Associate Executive Director of Basic Science.

“I am excited for Dr. Townsend to join Pennington Biomedical,” Dr. Morrison said. “It is increasingly well accepted that metabolic disease negatively impacts brain health, and Dr. Townsend is uncovering novel mechanisms that explain this brain-body connection.”