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Jillian Arzoumanian ’25 felt like the witch in "Hansel and Gretel."

Arzoumanian, a marine-science biology major, fattened up zebrafish to get a better understanding of human obesity through a grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry. 

Her base of research provides the legwork for weight-loss medicines in the preclinical research phase—test the fish first, then people. Though they don’t look it, zebrafish are remarkably similar to humans, at least genetically, with a 70% DNA match.

At the lab, Arzoumanian feeds 12 zebrafish in individual tanks every day for six weeks. Six fish are fed 6 milligrams of frozen brine shrimp. The other six are fed 10 times that amount and weigh three times more. 

Arzoumanian keeps a camera in front of each tank to monitor each fish’s movements, which Arzoumanian uses to calculate metabolic rate. Turns out, the heavier fish have a higher metabolism and more movement. Arzoumanian theorizes the extra energy is compensation for all the extra food.

However, she must consider other factors as well. Mood or stress may affect the zebrafishes’ movements, if not metabolism. 

The fish are considered to be social, since they travel in schools, she said.

Said Arzoumanian, “It's a bit sad, because they're not actually able to be with each other. The only good thing is that they're able to see each other through the tank, and that kind of alleviates some of the stress.” 

Weigh-ins are always the most stressful part — for Arzoumanian and the fish. 

“They're escape artists,” Arzoumanian said. 

She first weighs a beaker of water, then herds each zebrafish in the beaker, one at a time and subtracts the difference in weight. Then, she converts their data to a body mass index. When they surpass 30 on the BMI scale, the fish are considered obese. Next, she transfers the fish into a small plastic bag to measure their length from tip to tail. The whole process takes about two hours.

Arzoumanian gets a lot of enjoyment out of the lab, and even more from what her research can do. 

“On a human scale, you can base therapies associated with what we're finding,” she said. 

“Because obesity is such a big epidemic, it's important for us to look at this and target specific strategies to say, ‘This is what's going on. This is what's happening in your body, and here is how we can help move it back into a more healthy way.’” 

Kimberly Dobrinski, associate professor of biology and Arzoumanian’s advisor, said the research addresses one of the “most pressing health challenges of our time” and not only contributes “to our understanding of obesity, but to the UTampa mission of inquiry and innovation.”

Arzoumanian is busy analyzing data and will submit her findings for publication. She said she may keep the zebrafish as pets upon “retirement” but needs to come up with a dozen names.

Maybe just 10, if "Hansel and Gretel" aren’t too on the nose.  

Arzoumanian’s research protocols were reviewed and approved by the University’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.