Research Interests

Mark Evans
I am interested in (1) how brain detects changes in blood glucose and how this glucose-sensing interacts with peripheral metabolism (2) how defences against hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) may become abnormal in diabetes (3) the short and long term effects of episodes of hypoglycaemia on brain (4) new and innovative technology for monitoring and managing diabetes, including the development of closed loop insulin pump systems (the “artificial pancreas”).
Selected Publications
Ali J Chakera, Paul S Hurst, Gill Spyer, Emmanuel Ogunnowo-Bada,William J Marsh, Christine H Riches, Chen-Yu Yueh, S Pauliina Markkula, Jeffrey W Dalley, Roger D Cox, Ian A Macdonald, Stephanie A Amiel, Kenneth M MacLeod, Lora K Heisler, Andrew T Hattersley, Mark L Evans. Molecular Reductions in Glucokinase Activity Increase Counter-regulatory Responses to Hypoglycemia in Mice and Humans with Diabetes. Molecular Metabolism 2018 Aug 13. pii: S2212-8778(18)30750-6. doi: 10.1016/j.molmet.2018.08.001. PMID 30146176
Burke L, Ogunnowo-Bada E, Georgescu T, Cristiano C, Martinez de Morentin PB, Torres LV, D’Agostino G, Riches CR, Heeley N, Ruan Y, Rubinstein M, Low MJ, Myers MG, Rochford JJ, Evans ML*, Heisler LK*. * = co-corresponding author. Lorcaserin improves glycemic control via a melanocortin neurocircuit. Molecular Metabolism 6(10):1092-1102 Oct 2017; PMID 29031711
S.Pauliina Markkula, Lyons D, Yueh C-Y, Riches CR, Hurst P, Fielding B, Heisler LK, Evans ML. Intracerebroventricular Catalase Reduces Hepatic Insulin Sensitivity and Increases Responses to Hypoglycemia in Rats. Endocrinology 2016. 157, 4669-4676. PMID: 5133351. PMID 27740870
Sankalpa Neupane, Robert Peverall, Graham Richmond, Tom P.J. Blaikie, David Taylor, Gus Hancock and Mark L. Evans. Exhaled Breath Isoprene Rises During Hypoglycemia in Type 1 Diabetes. Diabetes Care 2016 Jul; 39(7): e97-e98. PMID 27330135[Featured on University of Cambridge YouTube site with > 84,000 views (accessed Oct 7th 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=02M4tj70Ju0 ]
Burke LK, Doslikova B, D’Agostino G, Greenwald-Yarnell M, Georgescu T, Chianese R, Martinez de Morentin PB, Ogunnowo-Bada E, Cansell C, Valencia Torres L, Garfield AS, Apergis-Schoute J, Lam DD, Speakman JR, Rubinstein M, Low MJ, Rochford JJ, Myers MG, Evans ML,* Heisler LK* Sex difference in physical activity, energy expenditure and obesity driven by subpopulation of hypothalamic POMC neurons. Molecular Metabolism 2016; 5:245-252 * = co-corresponding author PMID 26977396
Other recent Publications:
Evans M, Welsh Z, Ells S, Seibold A. The Impact of Flash Glucose Monitoring on Glycaemic Control as Measured by HbA1c: A Meta-analysis of Clinical Trials and Real-World Observational Studies. Diabet Therap 2019 Oct 31. doi: 10.1007/s13300-019-00720-0. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 31673972
Flatt AJS, Little SA, Speight J, Leelarathna L, Walkinshaw E, Tan HK, Bowes A, Lubina-Solomon A, Holmes-Truscott E, Chadwick TJ, Wood R, McDonald TJ, Kerr D, Flanagan D, Brooks A, Heller SR, Evans ML, Shaw JAM. Predictors of Recurrent Severe Hypoglycemia in Adults With Type 1 Diabetes and Impaired Awareness of Hypoglycemia During the HypoCOMPaSS Study. Diabetes Care. 2019 Sep 4. pii: dc190630. doi: 10.2337/dc19-0630. [Epub ahead of print]
J Speight, E Holmes-Truscott, SA Littled, L Leelarathna, E Walkinshaw, HK Tan, A Bowes, D Kerr, D Flanagan, SR Heller, ML Evans, JAM Shaw. Satisfaction with the use of different technologies for insulin delivery and glucose monitoring among adults with long-standing type 1 diabetes and problematic hypoglycaemia: 2-year follow-up in the HypoCOMPaSS Randomised Clinical Trial. Diabetes Technol Ther. 2019 Nov;21(11):619-626. doi: 10.1089/dia.2019.0152. Epub 2019 Oct 9. PMID:31335201
Dovc K, Boughton C, Tauschmann M, Thabit H, Bally L, Allen JM, Acerini CL, Arnolds S, de Beaufort C, Bergenstal RM, Campbell F, Criego A, Dunger DB, Elleri D, Evans ML, Fröhlich-Reiterer E, Hofer S, Kapellen T, Leelarathna L, Pieber TR, Rami-Merhar B, Shah VN, Sibayan J, Wilinska ME, Hovorka R, on behalf of the APCam11, AP@Home, and KidsAP Consortia on behalf of the APCam11, AP@Home, and KidsAP Consortia. Young Children Have Higher Variability of Insulin Requirements: Observations During Hybrid Closed-Loop Insulin Delivery. Diabetes Care 2019 Jul;42(7):1344-1347. doi: 10.2337/dc18-2625. (Epub 2019 May 21).
Bally L, Gubler P, Thabit H, Hartnell S, Ruan Y, Wilinska ME, Evans ML, Semmo M, Vogt B, Coll AP, Stettler C, Hovorka R. Fully closed-loop insulin delivery improves glucose control of inpatients with type 2 diabetes receiving hemodialysis. Kidney Int. 2019 Sep;96(3):593-596. doi: 10.1016/j.kint.2019.03.006. Epub 2019 Mar 20
Boughton CK, Bally L, Martignoni F, Hartnell S, Herzig D, Vogt A, Wertli MM, Wilinska ME, Evans ML, Coll AP, Stettler C, Hovorka R. Fully closed-loop insulin delivery to manage inpatient nutrition support on the general ward: A randomised controlled parallel design study. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2019 May;7(5):368-377. doi: 10.1016/S2213-8587(19)30061-0. Epub 2019 Mar 29. PMID: 30935872
Leelarathna L, Thabit H, Wilinska M, Bally L, Mader J, Pieber T, Benesch C, Arnolds S, Johnson T, Heinemann L, Hermanns N, Evans M, Hovorka R Evaluating glucose control with a novel Composite Continuous Glucose Monitoring Index (COGI). J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2019 Mar 31:1932296819838525. doi: 10.1177/1932296819838525. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:30931606
Peter J Curtis, Vera van der Velpen, Lindsey Berends, Amy Jennings, Martin Feelisch, Margot Umpleby, Mark Evans, John Potter, Anne-Marie Minihane, Colin D Kay, Eric Rimm, Aedín Cassidy. Blueberries improve biomarkers of cardiometabolic function in participants with metabolic syndrome – results from a 6-month, double blind, randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2019 Jun 1;109(6):1535-1545. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqy380. Erratum in: Am J Clin Nutr. 2019 Nov 1;110(5):1262. PMID: 31136659
David Klonoff, Mark Evans, Wendy Lane, Hans-Peter Kempe, Eric Renard, J Hans DeVries, Tina Graungaard, Agon Hyseni, Theis Gondolf, Tadej Battelino. A randomized, multicentre trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of fast-acting insulin aspart in continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion in adults with type 1 diabetes (onset 5) Diabetes Obes Metab. 2018 Dec 9. doi: 10.1111/dom.13610. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 30537180
Eleonora Seelig, James Howlett, Linsey Porter, Lucy Truman, James Heywood, Jane Kennet, Emma L. Arbon, Katerina Anselmiova, Neil M. Walker, Ravinder Atkar, Marcin L. Pekalski, Ed Rytina, Mark Evans, Linda S. Wicker, John A. Todd, Adrian P. Mander, Simon Bond, Frank Waldron-Lynch. The DILfrequency study is an adaptive trial to identify optimal IL-2 dosing in patients with type 1 diabetes. JCI Insight 2018; 3(19):e99306
Available also as pre-print:
Eleonora Seelig, James Howlett, Linsey Porter, Lucy Truman, James Heywood, Jane Kennet, Emma L Arbon, Katerina Anselmiova, Neil M Walker, Ravinder Atkar, Marcin L Pekaiski, Ed Rytina, Mark Evans, Linda S Wicker, John A Todd, Adrian P Mander, Simon Bond, Frank Waldron-Lynch. Targeting regulatory T cells with Interleukin-2 treatment in type 1 diabetes: a response-adaptive, non-randomised, open-label trial of repeat doses of Aldesleukin (DILfrequency).
bioRxiv 223958; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/223958 Nov 2017
Tauschmann M, Thabit H, Bally L, Allen JM, Hartnell S, Wilinska ME, Ruan Y, Sibayan J, Kollman C, Cheng P, Beck RW, Acerini CL, Evans ML, Dunger DB, Elleri D, Campbell F, Bergenstal RM, Criego A, Shah VN, Leelarathna L, Hovorka R; APCam11 Consortium. Closed-loop insulin delivery in sub-optimally controlled type 1 diabetes: a multicentre 12-week randomised trial. Lancet. 2018 Oct 13;392(10155):1321-1329. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31947-0. Epub 2018 Oct 3. Erratum in: Lancet. 2018 Oct 13;392(10155):1310. PMID:30292578
Lia Bally, Hood Thabit, Sara Hartnell, Eveline Andereggen, Yue Ruan, Malgorzata E Willinska, Mark L Evans, Maria Wertli, Anthony P Coll, Christoph Stettler, Roman Hovorka. Fully closed-loop glucose control in non-critical care settings: A randomized controlled two-center trial. New Engl J Med 2018 Aug 9;379(6):547-556
Yamamoto, J. M., Hughes, D. J. F., Evans, M. L., Karunakaran, V., Clark, J. D. A., Morrish, N. J., Rayman GA, Winocour PH, Hambling C, Harries AW, Sampson MJ, Murphy, H. R. Community-based pre-pregnancy care programme improves pregnancy preparation in women with pregestational diabetes. Diabetologia 2018 61: 1528-1537 doi: 10.1007/s00125-018-4613-3
Stuart A Little, Jane Speight, Lalantha Leelarathna, Emma Walkinshaw, Horng Kai Tan, Anita Bowes, Alexandra Lubina-Solomon, Thomas J Chadwick, Deborah D Stocken, Catherine Brennand, Sally M Marshall, Ruth Wood, David Kerr, Daniel Flanagan, Simon R Heller, Mark L Evans, James AM Shaw. Sustained reduction in severe hypoglycemia in adults with type 1 diabetes complicated by impaired awareness of hypoglycemia: 2-year follow-up in the HypoCOMPaSS randomized clinical trial. Diabetes Care 2018 Aug;41(8):1600-1607
Ruan, L. Bally, H. Thabit, J. K. Mader, H. Kojzar, S. Dellweg, C. Benesch, S. Hartnell, L. Leelarathna, M. Tauschmann, M. E. Wilinska, M. L. Evans, S. Arnolds, T. R. Pieber, R. Hovorka. Hypoglycaemia Incidence and Recovery During Home Use of Hybrid Closed-Loop in Adults with Type 1 Diabetes. Diab Obes Metab 2018 Aug;20(8):2004-2008
Nicholas Heeley, Peter Kirwan, Tamana Darwish, Marion Arnaud, Mark Evans,Florian Merkle, Frank Reimann, Fiona Gribble, Clemence Blouet. Rapid sensing of L-leucine by human and murine hypothalamic neurons: neurochemical and mechanistic insights. Molecular Metabolism 2018 Apr;10:14-27