00.00, Monday 18 May 2015
Fellows are invited to attend a discussion dinner at the Academy, featuring a talk by Professor Ismaa Sadaf Farooqi FMedSci, Professor of Metabolism and Medicine, University of Cambridge.
Attendance costs £60 per head. Fellows may bring one non-Fellow guest.
For more information, contact info@acmedsci.ac.uk or book a place using the form below.
The biology of appetite: from genes to behaviour
The rising prevalence of obesity is driven by environmental factors such as the increased consumption of highly palatable foods and reduced levels of physical activity. The discovery of how genetic variation at an individual and at a population level contributes to weight gain can drive further understanding of the molecular and physiological pathways involved in weight regulation and their disruption in obesity.
We have demonstrated that the leptin-melanocortin pathway regulates a network of brain responses, studied using functional imaging, that modulate the drive to eat. Understanding the molecular and neural basis of complex behaviours related to acquiring, consuming and enjoying food will guide the development of pharmacological, nutritional and behavioural interventions for obese patients.