Diabetes and metabolism

Over 80% of diabetic adults have at least one comorbid chronic disease, and up to 40% percent have more than three.

Locally, diabetes mellitus was in the top three causes of male morbidity in Yorkshire and The Humber (Public Health England 2021), with a number of lifestyle behaviours, such as poor diet and physical inactivity contributing to higher-than-average levels of excess weight in the region. Crucially, life expectancy for women and men in the region has recently fallen and now ranks as the third lowest in England; Hull has the lowest life expectancy in the region. Cardiometabolic conditions are major contributors to these trends, which are typically accompanied and exacerbated by diabetes and metabolic ill-health.

A key priority for the members of the Diabetes and Metabolism theme is to undertake detailed investigations of the impacts of metabolic adaptations to cellular function during disease progression. We are especially interested in how critical molecular events necessary for normal body function are modified by diabetic conditions and how this can feed forward into the progression of associated diseases, including fertility, cancer and cardiovascular disease. We use a range of state-of-the-art bioanalytical approaches to determine these molecular-level adaptations. To translate this beyond the lab, we have close links with experts in the in the Clinical Sciences Centre.

Charlotte Cook, MSc by Thesis Postgraduate Researcher

Mayanka Narayanan, MSc by Thesis Postgraduate Researcher

Imogen Guy, Research Technician

Shirin Hasan, Post-doctoral Research Assistant

Eamon Faulkner, Research Assistant

Dimitrios Manolis, Post-doctoral Research Assistant

Jordan Greaves, PhD Researcher

Wanzhu Jia, PhD Researcher

Zoe Baldwin, PhD Researcher

Zoe Booth, Post-doctoral Research Assistant

Sophie Leonard, PhD Researcher

We work with colleagues nationally and internationally to drive new understanding of how metabolism modifies molecular level determinants of disease progression and in turn how metabolism differs in different disease conditions.

Examples include partnerships to investigate how disrupted metabolism affects reproductive processes in women and men, and how in turn, these adaptations in might affect processes around the time of conception.

In addition, we are pursuing how epigenetic modifications are modified by metabolism in glioblastoma through the national GlioModel Consortium.

Moreover, we have excellent internal links that are driving the understanding of how metabolic function alters thrombotic events in health and disease.

We welcome enquiries for future collaboration opportunities, please contact us at: BIM@hyms.ac.uk

Thozhukat Sathyapalan, Head of the Clinical Sciences Centre, Chair in Academic Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism / Honorary Consultant Physician

Professor Sunil Bhandari, Consultant Nephrologist & Honorary Professor 

Sunhil Bhandari, Consultant Nephrologist and Honorary Professor