Exploring Metabolism
Dive into our research at Edinburgh Metabolism. Discover how we strive to unravel the secrets of metabolic health throughout life.
Our Mission
Edinburgh Metabolism, within the newly formed Institute for Neuroscience and Cardiovascular Research (INCR) at the University of Edinburgh, brings together basic and clinical scientists dedicated to understanding and improving metabolic health. We focus on cutting-edge research to explore how metabolic processes support health, how they fail and lead to disease, and how novel approaches can reduce risk and improve treatments for metabolic disorders.
Advancing Cardiometabolic Health
Our work is centered on three key areas of research:
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Mechanisms of Metabolic Health
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We investigate the biological processes that maintain metabolic health across the lifespan. Understanding these mechanisms is critical for identifying ways to protect and promote metabolic function.
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Disruptions in Metabolic Processes
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Our research focuses on how these mechanisms go awry to contribute to conditions such as obesity, diabetes, fatty liver disease, cardiovascular diseases, and increased vulnerability to infections.
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Innovative Approaches for Disease Prevention and Treatment
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We are dedicated to developing novel strategies for reducing disease risk and improving treatment outcomes for established metabolic diseases, paving the way for better healthcare solutions.
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Collaborations
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We maintain close collaborations across the University of Edinburgh, particularly through the Edinburgh Diabetes Network, and with the Institute for Regeneration and Repair, the Institute of Genetics and Cancer, The Usher Institute, Edinburgh Neuroscience, and the Edinburgh Pregnancy Research Team. We benefit from a range of strong international collaborations, especially with Denmark (through the Danish Diabetes and Endocrine Academy, DDEA) and Malawi (through NIHR funding).
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Our position in the Edinburgh BioQuarter campus seeds strong interactions with data scientists within the Usher Institute/DataLoch. Our wider outreach includes links with One Health programmes in the veterinary campus (e.g. LARIF) well as a strong interdisciplinary interface with physical science colleagues in the Kings Building Campus.
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Events and meetings
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In addition to INCR's wider seminar programme, Edinburgh Metabolism runs more thematically focused internal meetings, including a monthly Journal Club and a Steroid Interest Group. The UK-wide Adipose Tissue Discussion Group meetings in 2018, 2021 and 2023 were organised by our members. Our members also lead the Scottish Metabolomics Network.
Functional Beta Cell Mass >40% Predicts Long Term Insulin Independence to 6 Years Following Human Islet Transplantation: Lessons to Guide Clinical Practice.
Shareen Forbes.
Diabetes, In Press, Feb 2025
PMID: TBC
The NE/AAT/CBG axis regulates adipose glucocorticoid exposure.
Luke D Boyle, Allende Miguelez-Crespo, Mhairi Paul, Elisa Villalobos, Julia NC Toews, Lisa Ivatt, Boglarka Nagy, Marisa Magennis, Natalie ZM Homer, Ruth Andrew, Victor Viau, Geoffrey L Hammond, Roland H Stimson, Brian R Walker & Mark Nixon.
Nat Communications. 2025 Jan 9;16(1):545
PMID: 39788946
Deep learning and genome-wide association meta-analyses of bone marrow adiposity in the UK Biobank
Wei Xu, Ines Mesa-Eguiagaray, David M. Morris, Chengjia Wang, Calum D. Gray, Samuel Sjöström, Giorgos Papanastasiou, Sammy Badr, Julien Paccou, Xue Li, Paul R. H. J. Timmers, Maria Timofeeva, Susan M. Farrington, Malcolm G. Dunlop, Scott I. Semple, Tom MacGillivray, Evropi Theodoratou & William P. Cawthorn.
Nat Communications. 2025 Jan 2;16(1):99
PMID: 39747859
Spatial lipidomic profiles of atherosclerotic plaques: A mass spectrometry imaging study.
Sphamandla Ntshangase, Shazia Khan, Louise Bezuidenhout, TaÅ¥ána Gazárková, Jakub Kaczynski, Stephanie Sellers, Nicholas Jw Rattray, David E Newby, Patrick Wf Hadoke, Ruth Andrew
Talanta. 2025 Jan 1:282:126954.
PMID: 39423636
Proof of concept for a superior therapeutic index of corticosterone compared with hydrocortisone in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
Catriona J Kyle, Luke D Boyle, Mark Nixon, Natalie ZM Homer, Joanna P Simpson, Alison Rutter, Lynne E Ramage, Alex Kelman, Ellen M Freel, Ruth Andrew, Brian R Walker, Roland H Stimson.
Eur J Endocrinol. 2024 Nov 27;191(6):535-544
PMID: 39546623
Preterm birth as a determinant of neurodevelopment and cognition in children (PRENCOG): protocol for an exposure-based cohort study in the UK.
James P Boardman, Ruth Andrew, Mark E Bastin, Cheryl Battersby, G David Batty, Manuel Blesa Cábez, Simon R Cox, Jill Hall, Lauren Ingledow, Riccardo E Marioni, Neena Modi, Lee Murphy, Alan J Quigley, Rebecca M Reynolds, Hilary Richardson, Sarah J Stock, Michael J Thrippleton, Athanasios Tsanas, Heather C Whalley
BMJ Open. 2024 Sep 16;14(9):e085365.
PMID: 39284691
ATP-binding cassette family C member 1 constrains metabolic responses to high-fat diet.
Elisa Villalobos, Allende Miguelez-Crespo, Ruth A Morgan, Lisa Ivatt, Mhairi Paul, Joanna P Simpson, Natalie ZM Homer, Dominic Kurian, Judit Aguilar, Rachel Kline, T Wishart, Nicholas Morton, Roland H Stimson, Ruth Andrew, Brian R Walker, Mark Nixon.
J Endocrinol. 2024 Jun 1:JOE-24-0024.
PMID: 38829241
A cross-sectional questionnaire study: Impaired awareness of hypoglycaemia remains prevalent in adults with type 1 diabetes and is associated with the risk of severe hypoglycaemia
Faye Baxter, Nicola Baillie, Anna Dover, Roland H Stimson, Fraser Gibb, Shareen Forbes.
PLoS One. 2024 Jun 14;19(6):e0297601
PMID: 38875308
Mesenchymal-specific Alms1 knockout in mice recapitulates metabolic features of Alström syndrome.
Eleanor J McKay, Ineke Luijten, Xiong Weng, Pablo B Martinez de Morentin, Elvira De Frutos González, Zhanguo Gao, Mikhail G Kolonin, Lora K Heisler, Robert K Semple.
Mol Metab. 2024 Jun:84:101933
PMID: 38583571
Deletion of Hsd11b1 suppresses caloric-restriction-induced bone marrow adiposity in male but not female mice.
Andrea Lovdel, Karla Suchacki, Fiona Roberts, Richard J Sulston, Robert J Wallace, Benjamin J Thomas, Rachel M B Bell, Iris Pruñonosa Cervera, Gavin Macpherson, Nicholas Morton, Natalie ZM Homer, Karen E Chapman, William P Cawthorn.
J Endocrinol. 2024 May 1:JOE-24-0072.
PMID: 38805506
Impact of COVID-19 on gestational diabetes pregnancy outcomes in the UK: A multicentre retrospective cohort study
Niamh-Maire Mclennan, Robert Lindsay, Ponnusamy Saravanan, Nithya Sukumar, Sara L White, Peter von Dadelszen, Christy Burden, Kathryn Hunt, Priya George, Jane E Hirst, Katherine Lattey, Tara T M Lee, Helen R Murphy, Eleanor M Scott, Laura A Magee, Rebecca M Reynolds; Diabetes in Pregnancy Working Group.
BJOG. 2024 May;131(6):858-868
PMID: 37968246
Plasma steroid concentrations reflect acute disease severity and normalise during recovery in people hospitalised with COVID-19
Kerri Devine, Clark D Russell, Giovanny R Blanco, Brian R Walker, Natalie ZM Homer, Scott G Denham, Joanna P Simpson , Olivia C Leavy, Omer Elneima, Hamish J C McAuley, Aarti Shikotra, Amisha Singapuri, Marco Sereno, Ruth M Saunders , Victoria C Harris, Linzy Houchen-Wolloff, Neil J Greening, Nazir I Lone, Mathew Thorpe, William Greenhalf, James D Chalmers, Ling-Pei Ho, Alex Horsley, Michael Marks, Betty Raman, Shona C Moore, Jake Dunning, Malcolm G Semple, Ruth Andrew, Louise V Wain, Rachael A Evans, Christopher E Brightling, John Kenneth Baillie, Rebecca M Reynolds; ISARIC4C Investigators and PHOSP-COVID Study Collaborative Group.
Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2024 Apr;100(4):317-327.
PMID: 38229583
A novel deep learning method for large-scale analysis of bone marrow adiposity using UK Biobank Dixon MRI data
David M Morris, Chengjia Wang, Giorgos Papanastasiou, Calum D Gray, Wei Xu, Samuel Sjöström, Sammy Badr, Julien Paccou, Scott Semple, Tom MacGillivray, William P Cawthorn.
Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2023 Dec 27:24:89-104.
PMID: 38268780
Media
Podcasts:
Rebecca Reynolds joined Melvyn Bragg and his other guests for an episode of In Our Time on hormones, broadcast this morning on BBC Radio 4.
Videos:
