Metabolic and Cardiovascular Sciences

Image: Lipid droplets and mitochondria in primary hepatocytes

Image depicting an isolated primary hepatocyte, examining the mitochondria–lipid droplet interaction, stained with Mitotracker (red) and Bodipy (green) to visualize mitochondria and lipid droplets, respectively.

Credit: Stacey Keenan
Outstanding scientific and clinical researchers are improving our understanding of cellular metabolism and, ultimately, generating fresh insight into how to tackle metabolic disorders. Our inter-disciplinary community is at the forefront of novel therapeutic strategies for obesity, diabetes, liver and heart disease, and many cancers.

Dr Magda Montgomery, Academic Theme Lead

Dr Helen Jiao, Deputy

Metabolism is essential for the optimal function of every cell in your body.

Without effective control, metabolic impairments impact the normal function of all body tissues and underpin some of the leading causes of death in our society. This includes obesity, diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease and many cancers.

Our researchers investigate metabolism and metabolic dysfunctions of the:

  • Liver
  • Heart
  • Vasculature
  • Adipose tissues
  • Skeletal muscle
  • Gut
  • Brain and
  • Eye

The theme collectively interrogates the biology of cellular metabolism – the ways in which cells communicate to regulate metabolism – and the complex interactions between the endocrine system, enteric nervous system and sensory systems in the context of health and disease.

We adopt systems biology and translational approaches with the ultimate aim of identifying and developing novel therapeutic strategies to tackle metabolic diseases to improve patient outcomes.