About me

Experience:

2020 -

Present

Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Career Development Fellow 2020

2019 -

2020

Imperial Post-Doctoral Post-CCT Research Fellowship 2019

2018 -

2019

Chain Florey Clinical Lecturer MRC LMS

2013 -

2017

MRC Clinical Research Training Fellowship

2005 -

2008

MRCP (UK) Royal College of Physicians 2008

1999 -

2005

MBChB (Medicine) University of Birmingham 2005

1999 -

2002

BMedSci (Cellular & Molecular Biology) University of Birmingham 2002

Research focus:

We investigate genomic and molecular mechanisms underlying human metabolic diseases. Current research areas include: i. how epigenetic variations contribute to obesity and diabetes susceptibility; ii. why weight loss leads to remission of diabetes; iii. what impact genetic, environmental and therapeutic exposures have on dementia pathogenesis. To study these areas, we combine high-throughput molecular screens, detailed functional characterisation and therapeutic manipulation in humans and experimental models.

Joined LMS:

2018

About me:

I joined the LMS because it is one of the best places in the UK to study human disease. Working on a hospital site, surrounded by talented scientists from diverse disciplines, we are in the ideal place to make new discoveries and advance them into the clinic.

My awards and achievements:

Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Career Development Fellow (2020).

Impact of my work:

Our main impact is defining new mechanisms of disease and translating our findings into better treatments. For example, we have recently shown that epigenetic switches on DNA contribute to obesity and diabetes susceptibility, opening up a range of therapeutic possibilities. We have also discovered novel signalling pathways linked to weight loss that we are evaluating as drug targets.

My Research

Genomics of obesity

We study how the different layers of information encoded in our genomes, the basic building block of life, impact whether we get diseases such as obesity and diabetes. We focus on fat tissues which have crucial functions beyond fuel storage that alter health and lifespan.

VIEW MY RESEARCH GROUP

Selected publications

McAllan, D. Baranasic, S. Villicaña, W. Zhang, B. Lehne, M. Adamo, A. Jenkinson, M. Elkalaawy, B. Mohammadi, M. Hashemi, Y. Yang, L. Zudina, V. Lagou, S. Tan, J. Castillo-Fernandez, R. Soong, P. Elliott, J. Scott, M. Loh, I. Prokopenko, B. Lenhard, R. L. Batterham, J. Bell, J. Chambers, J. Kooner, W. Scott (2021) Integrative genomic analyses in adipocytes implicate DNA methylation in human obesity and diabetes. Preprint. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.20.21266893

Wahl S, Drong A, Lehne B, Loh M, Scott WR, Kunze S, Tsai PC, Ried JS, Zhang W, Yang Y, Tan S, Fiorito G, Franke L, Guarrera S, Kasela S, Kriebel J, Richmond RC, Adamo M, Afzal U, Ala-Korpela M, Albetti B, Ammerpohl O, Apperley JF, Beekman M, Bertazzi PA, Black SL, Blancher C, Bonder MJ, Brosch M, Carstensen-Kirberg M, de Craen AJ, de Lusignan S, Dehghan A, Elkalaawy M, Fischer K, Franco OH, Gaunt TR, Hampe J, Hashemi M, Isaacs A, Jenkinson A, Jha S, Kato N, Krogh V, Laffan M, Meisinger C, Meitinger T, Mok ZY, Motta V, Ng HK, Nikolakopoulou Z, Nteliopoulos G, Panico S, Pervjakova N, Prokisch H, Rathmann W, Roden M, Rota F, Rozario MA, Sandling JK, Schafmayer C, Schramm K, Siebert R, Slagboom PE, Soininen P, Stolk L, Strauch K, Tai ES, Tarantini L, Thorand B, Tigchelaar EF, Tumino R, Uitterlinden AG, van Duijn C, van Meurs JB, Vineis P, Wickremasinghe AR, Wijmenga C, Yang TP, Yuan W, Zhernakova A, Batterham RL, Smith GD, Deloukas P, Heijmans BT, Herder C, Hofman A, Lindgren CM, Milani L, van der Harst P, Peters A, Illig T, Relton CL, Waldenberger M, Järvelin MR, Bollati V, Soong R, Spector TD, Scott J, McCarthy MI, Elliott P, Bell JT, Matullo G, Gieger C, Kooner JS, Grallert H, Chambers JC. (2017). Epigenome-wide association study of body mass index, and the adverse outcomes of adiposity. Nature. 541(7635):81-86. doi: 10.1038/nature20784.

Scott WR, Zhang W, Loh M, Tan ST, Lehne B, Afzal U, Peralta J, Saxena R, Ralhan S, Wander GS, Bozaoglu K, Sanghera DK, Elliott P, Scott J, Chambers JC, Kooner JS. (2016). Investigation of Genetic Variation Underlying Central Obesity amongst South Asians. PLoS One. 11(5):e0155478. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155478.

Chambers JC, Loh M, Lehne B, Drong A, Kriebel J, Motta V, Wahl S, Elliott HR, Rota F, Scott WR, Zhang W, Tan ST, Campanella G, Chadeau-Hyam M, Yengo L, Richmond RC, Adamowicz-Brice M, Afzal U, Bozaoglu K, Mok ZY, Ng HK, Pattou F, Prokisch H, Rozario MA, Tarantini L, Abbott J, Ala-Korpela M, Albetti B, Ammerpohl O, Bertazzi PA, Blancher C, Caiazzo R, Danesh J, Gaunt TR, de Lusignan S, Gieger C, Illig T, Jha S, Jones S, Jowett J, Kangas AJ, Kasturiratne A, Kato N, Kotea N, Kowlessur S, Pitkäniemi J, Punjabi P, Saleheen D, Schafmayer C, Soininen P, Tai ES, Thorand B, Tuomilehto J, Wickremasinghe AR, Kyrtopoulos SA, Aitman TJ, Herder C, Hampe J, Cauchi S, Relton CL, Froguel P, Soong R, Vineis P, Jarvelin MR, Scott J, Grallert H, Bollati V, Elliott P, McCarthy MI, Kooner JS. (2015). Epigenome-wide association of DNA methylation markers in peripheral blood from Indian Asians and Europeans with incident type 2 diabetes: a nested case-control study. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol.  3(7):526-534. doi: 10.1016/S2213-8587(15)00127-8.

Lehne B, Drong AW, Loh M, Zhang W, Scott WR, Tan ST, Afzal U, Scott J, Jarvelin MR, Elliott P, McCarthy MI, Kooner JS, Chambers JC. (2016). A coherent approach for analysis of the Illumina HumanMethylation450 BeadChip improves data quality and performance in epigenome-wide association studies. Genome Biol. 16(1):37. doi: 10.1186/s13059-015-0600-x.

Kato N, Loh M, Takeuchi F, Verweij N, Wang X, Zhang W, Kelly TN, Saleheen D, Lehne B, Leach IM, Drong AW, Abbott J, Wahl S, Tan ST, Scott WR, Campanella G, Chadeau-Hyam M, Afzal U, Ahluwalia TS, Bonder MJ, Chen P, Dehghan A, Edwards TL, Esko T, Go MJ, Harris SE, Hartiala J, Kasela S, Kasturiratne A, Khor CC, Kleber ME, Li H, Yu Mok Z, Nakatochi M, Sapari NS, Saxena R, Stewart AFR, Stolk L, Tabara Y, Teh AL, Wu Y, Wu JY, Zhang Y, Aits I, Da Silva Couto Alves A, Das S, Dorajoo R, Hopewell JC, Kim YK, Koivula RW, Luan J, Lyytikäinen LP, Nguyen QN, Pereira MA, Postmus I, Raitakari OT, Scannell Bryan M, Scott RA, Sorice R, Tragante V, Traglia M, White J, Yamamoto K, Zhang Y, Adair LS, Ahmed A, Akiyama K, Asif R, Aung T, Barroso I, Bjonnes A, Braun TR, Cai H, Chang LC, Chen CH, Cheng CY, Chong YS, Collins R, Courtney R, Davies G, Delgado G, Do LD, Doevendans PA, Gansevoort RT, Gao YT, Grammer TB, Grarup N, Grewal J, Gu D, Wander GS, Hartikainen AL, Hazen SL, He J, Heng CK, Hixson JE, Hofman A, Hsu C, Huang W, Husemoen LLN, Hwang JY, Ichihara S, Igase M, Isono M, Justesen JM, Katsuya T, Kibriya MG, Kim YJ, Kishimoto M, Koh WP, Kohara K, Kumari M, Kwek K, Lee NR, Lee J, Liao J, Lieb W, Liewald DCM, Matsubara T, Matsushita Y, Meitinger T, Mihailov E, Milani L, Mills R, Mononen N, Müller-Nurasyid M, Nabika T, Nakashima E, Ng HK, Nikus K, Nutile T, Ohkubo T, Ohnaka K, Parish S, Paternoster L, Peng H, Peters A, Pham ST, Pinidiyapathirage MJ, Rahman M, Rakugi H, Rolandsson O, Ann Rozario M, Ruggiero D, Sala CF, Sarju R, Shimokawa K, Snieder H, Sparsø T, Spiering W, Starr JM, Stott DJ, Stram DO, Sugiyama T, Szymczak S, Tang WHW, Tong L, Trompet S, Turjanmaa V, Ueshima H, Uitterlinden AG, Umemura S, Vaarasmaki M, van Dam RM, van Gilst WH, van Veldhuisen DJ, Viikari JS, Waldenberger M, Wang Y, Wang A, Wilson R, Wong TY, Xiang YB, Yamaguchi S, Ye X, Young RD, Young TL, Yuan JM, Zhou X, Asselbergs FW, Ciullo M, Clarke R, Deloukas P, Franke A, Franks PW, Franks S, Friedlander Y, Gross MD, Guo Z, Hansen T, Jarvelin MR, Jørgensen T, Jukema JW, Kähönen M, Kajio H, Kivimaki M, Lee JY, Lehtimäki T, Linneberg A, Miki T, Pedersen O, Samani NJ, Sørensen TIA, Takayanagi R, Toniolo D; BIOS-consortium; CARDIo GRAMplusCD; LifeLines Cohort Study; InterAct Consortium, Ahsan H, Allayee H, Chen YT, Danesh J, Deary IJ, Franco OH, Franke L, Heijman BT, Holbrook JD, Isaacs A, Kim BJ, Lin X, Liu J, März W, Metspalu A, Mohlke KL, Sanghera DK, Shu XO, van Meurs JBJ, Vithana E, Wickremasinghe AR, Wijmenga C, Wolffenbuttel BHW, Yokota M, Zheng W, Zhu D, Vineis P, Kyrtopoulos SA, Kleinjans JCS, McCarthy MI, Soong R, Gieger C, Scott J, Teo YY, He J, Elliott P, Tai ES, van der Harst P, Kooner JS, Chambers JC. (2015). Trans-ancestry genome-wide association study identifies 12 genetic loci influencing blood pressure and implicates a role for DNA methylation. Nat Genet.  47(11):1282-1293. doi: 10.1038/ng.3405.

Chambers JC, Abbott J, Zhang W, Turro E, Scott WR, Tan ST, Afzal U, Afaq S, Loh M, Lehne B, O’Reilly P, Gaulton KJ, Pearson RD, Li X, Lavery A, Vandrovcova J, Wass MN, Miller K, Sehmi J, Oozageer L, Kooner IK, Al-Hussaini A, Mills R, Grewal J, Panoulas V, Lewin AM, Northwood K, Wander GS, Geoghegan F, Li Y, Wang J, Aitman TJ, McCarthy MI, Scott J, Butcher S, Elliott P, Kooner JS. (2014). The South Asian genome. PLoS One. 9(8):e102645. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0102645.

Karra E, O’Daly OG, Choudhury AI, Yousseif A, Millership S, Neary MT, Scott WR, Chandarana K, Manning S, Hess ME, Iwakura H, Akamizu T, Millet Q, Gelegen C, Drew ME, Rahman S, Emmanuel JJ, Williams SC, Rüther UU, Brüning JC, Withers DJ, Zelaya FO, Batterham RL. (2013). A link between FTO, ghrelin, and impaired brain food-cue responsivity. J Clin Invest. 123(8):3539-51. doi: 10.1172/JCI44403.

Scott WR, Gelegen C, Chandarana K, Karra E, Yousseif A, Amouyal C, Choudhury AI, Andreelli F, Withers DJ, Batterham RL. (2013). Differential pre-mRNA splicing regulates Nnat isoforms in the hypothalamus after gastric bypass surgery in mice. PLoS One. 8(3):e59407. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059407.

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