Rob Koza, PhD
Faculty Scientist, MaineHealth Institute for Research
Interim Director, Center for Molecular Medicine
Dr. Robert A. Koza is a biochemist/molecular geneticist who joined Maine Medical Center and MaineHealth Institute for Research (MHIR) in 2013 as a Faculty Scientist II. He received his PhD degree in Biochemistry from the University of New Hampshire 1989 and performed postdoctoral research at the Wistar Institute and Lankenau Medical Research Center near Philadelphia, PA. In 1994, Dr. Koza joined the laboratory of Dr. Leslie P. Kozak at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, ME as a Research Associate. He subsequently moved with the Kozak Laboratory to the Pennington Biomedical Research Center (PBRC; Baton Rouge LA), a part of the Louisiana State University (LSU) System in 1998 as an instructor, and then as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics in 2002. In 2000, Dr. Koza helped establish a Genomics Core Research Facility at PBRC-LSU and served as its Associate Director from 2000-2011. During his career, Dr. Koza’s studies included cancer-related and environmental research; and, the characterization of mechanisms associated with metabolic disease states such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. He is highly recognized for his work on mammalian thermogenesis as an energy expending mechanism; and, the identification and characterization of epigenetic mechanisms associated with the development of obesity and related disease.
Dr. Koza has directed the MHIR Summer Student Research Program since 2016 and has served as a member of the MMC Scientific Review Committee since 2019. He is a Graduate Faculty Member for the School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering (GSBSE-UMaine, Orono) and an Adjunct Associate Professor at PBRC-LSU. He has served as on numerous NIDDK, NIEHS and DOD grant review committees; and, is a long-standing member of the editorial board for the International Journal of Obesity.