Stephen O'Rahilly
@stephenorahilly.bsky.social
Endocrinologist. Physican scientist. Director of MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit, University of Cambridge. Expressing my own opinions here, not my employers
www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-an.... On visiting the USA last week several academic colleagues had got the impression that the UK was becoming increasingly illiberal. I would like to point them to this speech by arif ahmed which illustrates the UKs firm commitment to Academic freedom
Freedom of speech and academic freedom: driving change through the sector - Office for Students
Transcript of a keynote speech delivered by Arif Ahmed, our Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom, to the Committee for Academic Freedom's Navigating Academic Freedom conference on 15 Oc...
www.officeforstudents.org.uk
October 27, 2025 at 8:48 AM
www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-an.... On visiting the USA last week several academic colleagues had got the impression that the UK was becoming increasingly illiberal. I would like to point them to this speech by arif ahmed which illustrates the UKs firm commitment to Academic freedom
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1... Working with our great collaborators at Pfizer we have uncovered a common genetic contributor to metabolic ill health/
Genetic impairment of ketone body signalling is a prevalent contributor to human metabolic dysfunction
Emerging evidence that circulating levels of key metabolic intermediates are sensed by a range of G-Protein Coupled receptors (GPCRs) is providing critical new insights into the control of systemic me...
www.medrxiv.org
October 3, 2025 at 1:10 AM
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1... Working with our great collaborators at Pfizer we have uncovered a common genetic contributor to metabolic ill health/
nature.com/articles/s44161-025-00712-3
Interesting. But studies of GDF15 on cells used GDF15 made in mammalian cells which is always contaminated by TGFB family members (see PMID: 29161287) some of which are active at fmolar concs. Yeast or bacterially derived is fine. Qkine is good source
Interesting. But studies of GDF15 on cells used GDF15 made in mammalian cells which is always contaminated by TGFB family members (see PMID: 29161287) some of which are active at fmolar concs. Yeast or bacterially derived is fine. Qkine is good source
Cardiac adaptation to endurance exercise training requires suppression of GDF15 via PGC-1α - Nature Cardiovascular Research
Khetarpal et al. show that the metabolic regulator PGC-1α is essential in heart muscle cells for exercise-driven cardiac growth, and that suppression of the stress-induced myokine GDF15 is required to enable cardiomyocyte adaptations to training.
nature.com
September 26, 2025 at 2:58 PM
nature.com/articles/s44161-025-00712-3
Interesting. But studies of GDF15 on cells used GDF15 made in mammalian cells which is always contaminated by TGFB family members (see PMID: 29161287) some of which are active at fmolar concs. Yeast or bacterially derived is fine. Qkine is good source
Interesting. But studies of GDF15 on cells used GDF15 made in mammalian cells which is always contaminated by TGFB family members (see PMID: 29161287) some of which are active at fmolar concs. Yeast or bacterially derived is fine. Qkine is good source
Fantastic news. Processes designed to measure Research excellence should focus on whether research done at our universities is reproducible, represents a significant advance in understanding, and/or is actually or potentially useful. The rest is just prattle.
Patrick Vallance hits pause on Research Excellence Framework
Science minister announces review of controversial changes to research environment assessment
www.timeshighereducation.com
September 4, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Fantastic news. Processes designed to measure Research excellence should focus on whether research done at our universities is reproducible, represents a significant advance in understanding, and/or is actually or potentially useful. The rest is just prattle.
Reposted by Stephen O'Rahilly
The @easdnews.bsky.social Novo Nordisk Foundation Prize #Diabetes
August 14, 2025 at 10:11 AM
The @easdnews.bsky.social Novo Nordisk Foundation Prize #Diabetes
Reposted by Stephen O'Rahilly
Expanding metabolic roles for the GIPR in oligodendrocytes #weightloss www.cell.com/cell-metabol...
Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor signaling in oligodendrocytes increases the weight-loss action of GLP-1R agonism
Hansford et al. show that GIPR, a target of new weight-loss drugs, is found in brain
cells called oligodendrocytes. GIPR helps these drugs access the brain and boosts
weight loss. Without GIPR in thes...
www.cell.com
August 14, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Expanding metabolic roles for the GIPR in oligodendrocytes #weightloss www.cell.com/cell-metabol...
So very sad. Davo was a truly great endocrine scientist.
Deeply saddened to hear about the passing of an all-time-great of endocrine research, David Mangelsdorf - I just saw him at #ENDO2025, a real shock! Read his obituary here www.utsouthwestern.edu/about-us/ass... @endocrinesociety.bsky.social @esendocrinology.bsky.social @socendocrinology.bsky.social
August 9, 2025 at 11:14 PM
So very sad. Davo was a truly great endocrine scientist.
sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Great to see further evidence emerging supporting the pressing need for trials of preconceptional GDF15 desensitisation with metformin for prevention of severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy in women with a previous history. Congrats to @drfejzo.bsky.social
Pre-pregnancy metformin use associated with lower risk of severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy and hyperemesis gravidarum
Severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy and hyperemesis gravidarum are associated with adverse maternal, fetal, and child outcomes. The recurrence ris…
sciencedirect.com
July 3, 2025 at 9:43 AM
sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Great to see further evidence emerging supporting the pressing need for trials of preconceptional GDF15 desensitisation with metformin for prevention of severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy in women with a previous history. Congrats to @drfejzo.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/o... Amazing to see this article appear in the NYT. I hope many of my fellow endocrinologists are reading it @endocrinesociety.bsky.social
Opinion | How the Gay Rights Movement Radicalized, and Lost Its Way
www.nytimes.com
June 29, 2025 at 9:20 PM
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/o... Amazing to see this article appear in the NYT. I hope many of my fellow endocrinologists are reading it @endocrinesociety.bsky.social
OMG. This looks terrifying.
In today's WSJ by their editorial board
www.wsj.com/opinion/rfk-...
www.wsj.com/opinion/rfk-...
June 15, 2025 at 9:52 PM
OMG. This looks terrifying.
Mice lacking this amino acid lost 30% body weight www.nature.com/articles/d41... Am I missing something? Mice engineered to have a specific and severe defect in amino acid metabolism get sick and lose weight. Might the rush to find new weight loss targets be impairing our critical faculties ?
Mice lacking this amino acid lost 30% of their body weight
But eliminating cysteine, which is found in high-protein foods, from human diets would be challenging.
www.nature.com
May 24, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Mice lacking this amino acid lost 30% body weight www.nature.com/articles/d41... Am I missing something? Mice engineered to have a specific and severe defect in amino acid metabolism get sick and lose weight. Might the rush to find new weight loss targets be impairing our critical faculties ?
Had a great time at Lund university attending their Spring Meeting. Amused to see this poster outside the lecture theatre. Those old English universities: it’s hard to tell them apart 😊
May 22, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Had a great time at Lund university attending their Spring Meeting. Amused to see this poster outside the lecture theatre. Those old English universities: it’s hard to tell them apart 😊
Reposted by Stephen O'Rahilly
📢 Job Vacancy! Institute of Metabolic Science
@ims-mrl.bsky.social are looking for a Research Nurse to join their team. Applications open until 30th May!
>>> For more info: bit.ly/4iIkrNo
@cuhnhs.bsky.social @mrcepid.bsky.social @stephenorahilly.bsky.social @cambridgeuni.bsky.social
@ims-mrl.bsky.social are looking for a Research Nurse to join their team. Applications open until 30th May!
>>> For more info: bit.ly/4iIkrNo
@cuhnhs.bsky.social @mrcepid.bsky.social @stephenorahilly.bsky.social @cambridgeuni.bsky.social
April 29, 2025 at 2:56 PM
📢 Job Vacancy! Institute of Metabolic Science
@ims-mrl.bsky.social are looking for a Research Nurse to join their team. Applications open until 30th May!
>>> For more info: bit.ly/4iIkrNo
@cuhnhs.bsky.social @mrcepid.bsky.social @stephenorahilly.bsky.social @cambridgeuni.bsky.social
@ims-mrl.bsky.social are looking for a Research Nurse to join their team. Applications open until 30th May!
>>> For more info: bit.ly/4iIkrNo
@cuhnhs.bsky.social @mrcepid.bsky.social @stephenorahilly.bsky.social @cambridgeuni.bsky.social
Indeed. And so ironic that while the new administration says it is very keen to understand the effects of food on health, their actions are resulting in the closure of one the US’s most effective labs in that area @kevinh-phd.bsky.social
The world of science needs more colleagues like Dr. Kevin Hall. Honesty, integrity and high quality science, answering critical questions with broad implications for improving human health
After 21 years at my dream job, I’m very sad to announce my early retirement from the National Institutes of Health. My life’s work has been to scientifically study how our food environment affects what we eat, and how what we eat affects our physiology.
April 17, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Indeed. And so ironic that while the new administration says it is very keen to understand the effects of food on health, their actions are resulting in the closure of one the US’s most effective labs in that area @kevinh-phd.bsky.social
www.thefp.com/p/carole-hoo.... While I applaud Harvard for standing up to the Trump government, this article is mandatory reading for anyone who doesn’t understand how it got to this point.
Carole Hooven: Why I Left Harvard
After I stated banal facts about human biology, I found myself caught in a DEI web, without the support to do the job I loved. The only way out was to leave it.
www.thefp.com
April 17, 2025 at 7:29 AM
www.thefp.com/p/carole-hoo.... While I applaud Harvard for standing up to the Trump government, this article is mandatory reading for anyone who doesn’t understand how it got to this point.
UK’s supreme court rules that legal definition of woman is based on biological sex. This is a hugely important decision. Unanimous .I hope it will open up rational debate in other countries.
April 16, 2025 at 1:11 PM
UK’s supreme court rules that legal definition of woman is based on biological sex. This is a hugely important decision. Unanimous .I hope it will open up rational debate in other countries.
I really enjoyed recording one of these with you several years ago. Wishing you well with whatever your next venture will be.
All good things must come to an end, including this brilliant series that I was delighted to have hosted. Hope you all have enjoyed it as much as I did! Thank you @jclinical-invest.bsky.social ! And all the Giants who trusted me to help tell their stories.
Thanks to @UshmaNeill for running the Conversation of Giants in Medicine series for over a decade. Since its inception in 2012, this series has spanned 74 interviews with 80 pioneer scientists: jci.org/videos/cgms
Last but not least episode:
Video: buff.ly/LF6DMYz
Article: jci.org/articles/vie...
Last but not least episode:
Video: buff.ly/LF6DMYz
Article: jci.org/articles/vie...
April 2, 2025 at 5:27 PM
I really enjoyed recording one of these with you several years ago. Wishing you well with whatever your next venture will be.
Almut Gadow v Open University genderblog.net/almut-gadow-... This piece is from Nick Wallis, the journalist whose doigged research exposed the Post Office Scandal. He is now taking a serious interest in an area that is increasingly affecting UK universities.Worth a read
Almut Gadow v Open University
Almut Gadow Dr Almut Gadow has a personality similar to those I’ve stumbled across a lot whilst talking to people about gender ideology. She’s fiercely intelligent, does not back down a…
genderblog.net
March 29, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Almut Gadow v Open University genderblog.net/almut-gadow-... This piece is from Nick Wallis, the journalist whose doigged research exposed the Post Office Scandal. He is now taking a serious interest in an area that is increasingly affecting UK universities.Worth a read
Reposted by Stephen O'Rahilly
Come and study with us for a Masters!
@ims-mrl.bsky.social @uniofcam.bsky.social full-time taught MPhil in Obesity, Endocrinology and Metabolism for 2025/2026
Application deadline 4th April!!!
High quality postgrad training in physiology & pathophysiology of energy balance & metabolism.
🛜 mrl.ims.cam.ac.uk/study-us/tau...
Application deadline 4th April!!!
High quality postgrad training in physiology & pathophysiology of energy balance & metabolism.
🛜 mrl.ims.cam.ac.uk/study-us/tau...
March 25, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Come and study with us for a Masters!
Honoured to be in Baden-Baden to receive the Berthold Medal from the German Endocrine Society and give the abet gold lecture. Really great questions from a wonderfully engaged and responsive audience. Thanks to #JensBruining for his very kind introduction.
March 20, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Honoured to be in Baden-Baden to receive the Berthold Medal from the German Endocrine Society and give the abet gold lecture. Really great questions from a wonderfully engaged and responsive audience. Thanks to #JensBruining for his very kind introduction.
Reposted by Stephen O'Rahilly
This International Women's Day, we celebrate as women advocate for change, equity, & inclusivity paving the way for future generations of women scientists
Meet Agnes Lukasik, Patient and Public Involvement & Engagement Manager @ims-mrl.bsky.social
#IWD2025 #AccelerateAction
@mrcepid.bsky.social
Meet Agnes Lukasik, Patient and Public Involvement & Engagement Manager @ims-mrl.bsky.social
#IWD2025 #AccelerateAction
@mrcepid.bsky.social
March 8, 2025 at 4:00 PM
This International Women's Day, we celebrate as women advocate for change, equity, & inclusivity paving the way for future generations of women scientists
Meet Agnes Lukasik, Patient and Public Involvement & Engagement Manager @ims-mrl.bsky.social
#IWD2025 #AccelerateAction
@mrcepid.bsky.social
Meet Agnes Lukasik, Patient and Public Involvement & Engagement Manager @ims-mrl.bsky.social
#IWD2025 #AccelerateAction
@mrcepid.bsky.social