The Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Gastroenterology is a division of the School of Medical Sciences.

We are interested in major body systems and how they interact in biology and medicine. These include the endocrine, gastrointestinal and circadian systems and their roles in metabolic and inflammatory diseases, notably diabetes and obesity. These are major current health issues and a unifying focus of much of our work.

We also have research strengths in neurogastroenterology, clinical nutrition, and molecular and cellular physiology.

Our research

Research within the Division is focused on the following areas.

Biological timing

The body clock is essential for regulating physiology and behaviour. We have pioneered the use of new genetic techniques in mouse models to disrupt clock function, and have demonstrated synchronisation of the body clock with pharmaceutical treatments.

The potential is broad, opening up the possibility of treating issues associated with disruption of circadian rhythms, from inflammatory diseases to sleep disorders.

Biological timing is a significant area of activity within a number of our cross-cutting research domains.

Discover more about our biological timing research.

Endocrinology and diabetes

We have active interests across endocrinology, including energy metabolism, diabetes complications, epidemiology, human development, and the interplay between circadian rhythms and the endocrine system.

We use a variety of approaches including cell biology, pre-clinical model organisms of behaviour, and human studies ranging from experimental medicine to large-scale cohort analysis.

Gastroenterology and nutrition

Our research interests extend from understanding basic physiology and mechanisms of gut and liver disease, through to innovations in investigation and treatment.

Key successes are in neurogastroenterology, inflammatory bowel disease, liver fibrosis and clinical nutrition.

We adopt multidisciplinary approaches from basic model systems through to clinical studies and interventional trials.

Metabolism and obesity

We are also interested in the brain and how it regulates appetite, blood glucose levels, body weight and energy expenditure.

An understanding of these systems may allow them to be manipulated in the future to control metabolic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes.

Molecular and cellular physiology

We have active interests across physiology, including the extracellular homeostasis and sensing of calcium, glucose, fatty acids, ions and other fundamental nutrients, both in health and disease.

We employ a variety of in vitro and in vivo approaches, including bioimaging, and advanced molecular and functional techniques to address a range of metabolic questions.

Head of Division

Professor Karen Piper-Hanley

Our researchers

View list of researchers within the Division

Contact

Val Lenferna, Operations Administrator
tel: +44 (0)161 275 5180
email: val.lenferna@manchester.ac.uk