Early in his career, Tschöp reported on the orexigenic, adipogenic, and metabolic effects of ghrelin and its secretory control by nutrients, which has had a major influence on human obesity and diabetes research.

[3] It added a fundamental pathway to the current model of body weight and glucose control and established novel drug targets for metabolic diseases.

Tschöp went on to further dissect gut-brain communication pathways, based on GI-hormone signaling and lessons from unraveling the molecular underpinnings of gastric bypass surgery.

Together with his close collaborator Richard DiMarchi (Indiana University)[4] he discovered and validated the novel drug class of dual and triple gut hormone co-agonists for the treatment of obesity and diabetes.

Tschöp and DiMarchi more recently went on to discover and validate another class of drug candidates by engineering peptide to deliver steroid/small molecules to selected cell populations.