Roger Dilts, Jr., PhD

Professor of Basic Sciences

Education:
  • PhD – Veterinary Science, Washington State University
  • Bachelor of Science – Biochemistry, Virginia Tech
Biography:

Roger P. Dilts, PhD, joined Roseman College of Medicine (RUCOM) in March of 2024 as a Professor of Basic Sciences. Prior to joining RUCOM, Dr. Dilts was a Professor of Biochemistry and Nutrition at Western Atlantic University School of Medicine, and held a similar position at Saba University School of Medicine. He began his medical school scholarship at Sonoran University of Health Sciences where he served as Chair of Basic Sciences within the School of Naturopathic Medicine. While at Saba University, Dr. Dilts was elected as a “favorite” instructor by his students, for his work assisting them in developing the studying skills required to master the basic science material on NBME exams and USMLE-Step 1, as demonstrated by students scoring within the 90 plus percentile on these exams. Dr. Dilts is passionate about delivering medical knowledge to those with the most need and/or underserved, and in this regard was a past faculty member at Salish Kootenai College where he was a member of the nursing department faculty, and aided in the design of the first 4-year BS program in basic sciences at a Tribal College.

Dr. Dilts did his doctoral work under the tutelage of Dr. Peter Kalivas, where they successfully and correctly determined the localization of opioid receptors within the dopaminergic reward pathways in the brain, and subsequently went on to further study dopaminergic and serotonergic interactions using immediate early genes before joining Amylin Pharmaceuticals. While at Amylin, Dr. Dilts was involved in the discovery and development of new treatments for diabetes and obesity including two first in kind class drugs, Symlin and Byetta, the later being the first FDA approved GLP-1 agonist. This is when Dr. Dilts began his study and interests in the physiological basis and neural regulation of feeding behaviors, obesity, diabetes, nutrition, and metabolism.

Teaching Areas:
  • Biochemistry
  •  Cellular and Molecular Biology
  • Metabolism
  • Nutrition
  • Physiology
  • Endocrinology
Research Interests:
  • The underlying causes of insulin resistance and/or metabolic syndrome leading to the disease state(s) of Type II Diabetes mellitus
  • Undergraduate medical student learning and development
Select Peer-Reviewed Publications:
  1. Edwards, G. L., Gedulin, B., Jodka, C., Dilts, R. P., Miller, C. C., & Young, A. (1998). Area postrema (AP) lesions block the regulation of gastric emptying by amylin. Gastroenterology, 114(4), A748-A748.
  2. Dilts, R. P., Novitzki, M., Phan, T. H., Corley, K. C., & Boadle-Biber, M. C. (1996). Neurotensin inhibits the activation of midbrain serotonergic neurons produced by random inescapable sound. Brain Research, 742, 294-298.
  3. Dilts, R. P., & Boadle-Biber, M. C. (1995). Differential activation of the 5-hydroxytryptamine-containing neurons of the midbrain raphe of the rat in response to randomly presented inescapable sound. Neuroscience Letters, 199(1), 78-80.
  4. Dilts, R. P., Helton, T. E., & McGinty, J. F. (1993). Selective induction of Fos and Fra immunoreactivity within the mesolimbic and mesostriatal dopamine terminal fields. Synapse, 13, 251-263.
  5. Boadle-Biber, M. C., Singh, V., Corley, K. C., Phan, T.-H., & Dilts, R. P. (1993). Evidence that corticotropin-releasing factor within the extended amygdala mediates the sound stress-induced increases in tryptophan hydroxylase activity. Brain Research, 628, 105-114.
  6. Churchill, L., Dilts, R. P., & Kalivas, P. W. (1992). Autoradiographic localization of gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors within the ventral tegmental area. Neurochemical Research, 17, 101-106.
  7. Dilts, R. P., & Kalivas, P. W. (1990). Autoradiographic localization of delta opioid receptors within the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system using radioiodinated [2-D-Penicillamine, 5-D-I125Penicillamine]enkephalin ( I-DPDPE). Synapse, 6, 121-132.
  8. Churchill, L. W., Dilts, R. P., & Kalivas, P. W. (1990). Changes in gamma-aminobutyric acid, mu opioid, and neurotensin receptors in the accumbens-pallidal projection after discrete quinolinic acid lesions in the nucleus accumbens. Brain Research, 511, 41-54.
  9. Dilts, R. P., & Kalivas, P. W. (1989). Autoradiographic localization of mu opioid and neurotensin receptors within the mesolimbic dopamine system. Brain Research, 488, 311-327.

Last updated: 05/10/2024