News

Global Commission advocates changes to definition of obesity

16 January 2025

A global Commission, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology and endorsed by more than 75 medical organisations around the world, presents a new approach to diagnose obesity, based on measures of excess body fat in addition to body mass index (BMI), and objective signs and symptoms of ill health. The...

Orthopedia regulates melanocortin 4 receptor transcription and energy homeostasis

16 January 2025

Genetic studies have shown that the melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) plays a critical role in regulating food intake and body weight. However, surprisingly, little is known about how MC4R expression is regulated in the brain. In a study published in Science Translational Medicine , the Farooqi team collaborated with Chen Lui...

Setmelanotide now licensed to treat children with genetic obesity from age 2

11 December 2024

The Farooqi team recently worked with colleagues across the world to complete a 12 month Phase 3 clinical trial of the Melanocortin 4 receptor agonist, Setmelanotide, in very young children (aged 2-5 years) with severe obesity due to genetic conditions which disrupt the function of the hypothalamic melanocortin pathway...

Stephen O'Rahilly receives an award at international lipodystrophy symposium

19 November 2024

Congratulations to Professor Stephen O’Rahilly who was presented with the Celia Carrión Pérez de Tudela Award in Lipodystrophy Research while at the AELIP 12th International Lipodystrophy Symposium in Santiago de Compostela, Spain earlier this month.

Julia Ware awarded the 2024 Milo Keynes Prize for PhD Thesis

11 November 2024

Congratulations to Dr Julia Ware (Hovorka group) who has been awarded the Milo Keynes Prize for the academic year 2024, on submission of her PhD thesis - The impact of closed-loop insulin delivery on glucose control in children and young people with type 1 diabetes mellitus: Longer-term benefits across the paediatric age-...

Apply now to study at the IMS-MRL

5 November 2024

The Institute of Metabolic Science offers a world class environment for research in obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Training graduate students for a scientific career is a priority at the IMS-MRL. We have a mixture of both basic science students and clinical trainees and aim to provide everyone with a...

photo of a person injecting their abdomen

Are weight loss jabs the solution to the obesity crisis?

30 October 2024

Semaglutide-based weight loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic - and others like them - are being hailed as ‘revolutionary’, with the potential to improve the lives of billions. The UK government has suggested they could boost the economy by helping obese people get back to work. But current estimates suggest almost two thirds of...

Molecular mechanisms underlying glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide secretion in human duodenal organoids

24 October 2024

Research from the Gribble-Reimann group has generated a new human organoid K cell model which enables transcriptomic and functional characterisation of nutrient-sensing pathways involved in human GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide - an incretin hormone secreted by enteroendocrine K cells in the proximal...

European Endocrine Society Award for Professor Krish Chatterjee

24 October 2024

Congratulations to Professor Krish Chatterjee on winning the prestigious European Hormone Medal from the European Society for Endocrinology - awarded to an international scientist who has made significant contributions to the field of basic or clinical endocrinology. This is the second major accolade for Krish this year...

Congratulations to Professor Sue Ozanne - New Director and Head of Department

8 October 2024

The IMS-MRL is delighted to announce that Professor Susan Ozanne PhD FMedSci has recently been appointed as its new Director. Sue will also take on the roles of Co-Director of the IMS and Head of the University Department of Clinical Biochemistry. Professor Stephen O’Rahilly MD FRS FMedSci will remain Director of the MRC...