From  5–9 September 2022, the MRC Epidemiology Unit will be holding its 10th Physical Activity Measurement Seminar at The Møller Institute in Cambridge, UK. The course is primarily aimed at Research Assistants and PhD students interested or involved in the objective monitoring of free-living physical activity. However, anyone interested in this area of research is […]

The research team at GOOS led by Professor Sadaf Farooqi are excited to announce that they have started treating patients with several different genetic conditions which cause obesity, with Setmelanotide, a melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) agonist. Following successful trials in three genetic obesity syndromes (POMC, PCSK1, LEPR), this new trial called ‘DAYBREAK’, will test whether Setmelanotide […]

By Dr Jean Strelitz, MRC Postdoctoral Fellow, MRC Epidemiology Unit People with type 2 diabetes have a higher risk of heart disease and premature death. People with type 2 diabetes are increasingly encouraged to lose weight, as evidence from numerous clinical trials shows that weight loss substantially improves blood sugar levels. Indeed, a recent trial […]

Research led by scientists from the Constância Group has identified a key signal that a fetus uses to control its supply of nutrients from the placenta. The way that a fetus grows ‘in sync’ with the placenta was not known until now. The study, carried out in mice as a ‘model’ (proxy) for human pregnancy, […]

Scientists from the Yeo group, working with Professor Tony Perry from the University of Bath and Dr Matthew VerMilyea of Ovation Fertility in the US, have discovered that genes in human embryos rapidly become active after fertilisation, opening a new window on the start of human embryonic life. When sperm meets egg, a whole cascade […]

In September 2021, the UK government and devolved administrations announced the decision to introduce mandatory fortification of UK non-wholemeal flour with folic acid, the synthetic form of the vitamin folate (also known as vitamin B9). Folate is necessary for DNA synthesis and replication required for normal cell development and growth. The main dietary sources of […]

In this article originally published in The Conversation, Dr Marinka Steur and Professor Nita Forouhi discuss new research indicating that the heart disease risk associated with saturated fats depends on the foods it is found in. Heart disease is a major cause of death worldwide – responsible for some 9 million deaths a year. But […]

Congratulations to Giles Yeo who has been awarded the 2022 Society Medal of the Society for Endocrinology. The Medal of the Society for Endocrinology is awarded, on an annual basis, to an endocrinologist working in the UK and who is a member of the Society, in recognition of outstanding studies. All Medallists and Awardees are […]

In a study undertaken in more than 10,000 individuals, and published today in Nature Communications, scientists have shown that integrating information derived from different technologies to measure proteins can identify otherwise hidden links between proteins and human health and disease. The international research team led by scientists from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit […]

How do you work out what stimulates release of a hormone which isn’t expressed in rodents or cell lines, and is challenging to measure reliably? Using newly-developed human small intestinal organoid lines and a targeted mass spectrometry assay, a recent study from the Gribble-Reimann laboratory at the IMS-MRL and published in Molecular Metabolism, presents the […]