The Institute of Metabolic Science-Metabolic Research Laboratories (IMS-MRL) and its embedded Medical Research Council (MRC) Metabolic Diseases Unit investigate the mechanisms through which metabolic health is maintained and how this is disturbed in disease. We seek to use that knowledge to aid better treatment and prevention of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and related endocrine and metabolic diseases.
IMS-MRL research groups encompass skills in genetics, cell biology, cell signalling, neuroendocrinology, bioenergetics, human and animal physiology, experimental medicine and clinical trials.
Latest news
Global Commission advocates changes to definition of obesity
16 January 2025
A global Commission, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology and endorsed by more than 75 medical organisations around the world, presents a new approach to diagnose obesity, based on measures of excess body fat in addition to body mass index (BMI), and objective signs and symptoms of ill health. The...
Orthopedia regulates melanocortin 4 receptor transcription and energy homeostasis
16 January 2025
Genetic studies have shown that the melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) plays a critical role in regulating food intake and body weight. However, surprisingly, little is known about how MC4R expression is regulated in the brain. In a study published in Science Translational Medicine , the Farooqi team collaborated with Chen Lui...
Setmelanotide now licensed to treat children with genetic obesity from age 2
11 December 2024
The Farooqi team recently worked with colleagues across the world to complete a 12 month Phase 3 clinical trial of the Melanocortin 4 receptor agonist, Setmelanotide, in very young children (aged 2-5 years) with severe obesity due to genetic conditions which disrupt the function of the hypothalamic melanocortin pathway...
