Advisory Board and Editors Obesity
Abdullatif Husseini
Abdullatif Husseini, Ph.D., MPH, MS is currently an Associate Professor of Public Health and Director of the Master of Community and Public Health Program at the Birzeit University. He received his MS in life sciences from Indiana State University, his MPH from the University of Wales, and his Ph.D. in epidemiology and preventive medicine from the University of Oslo, Norway. Dr. Husseini research interests include epidemiology of non-communicable diseases and their risk factors and public health in emergencies. His publications in peer reviewed journals covered various topics, including diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, and obesity, among other important public health issues in the region. He led and participated in various research projects. Dr. Husseini taught different graduate and the undergraduate courses including: classical epidemiology, advanced epidemiology, research methods, and introduction to public health Dr. Husseini is a tenured associate professor at Birzeit University.
Goo Jun
I am currently an assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. I work on statistical genetics, computational biology, bioinformatics, and sequence data analysis. With backgrounds in machine learning and data mining, my research is focused on development of computational and statistical methods for analysis of massive data to understand genetics and biology of complex traits. I have been working on the analysis of large-scale next-generation sequencing data, for which I developed statistical models and software pipelines for detecting sample contamination, variant discovery, machine-learning based variant filtering, and genotyping of structural variations. I also work on genetics of diabetes, obesity, and related traits and study of metabolomic and microbiome compositions related to genetics of common and complex traits.
Mohammed Kuddus
Dr. Mohammed Kuddus is working as a Professor and Chairman of Biochemistry Department at University of Hail, Saudi Arabia. His main research area includes Molecular biology, Industrial enzymes, Extremophiles and Extremozymes, Microbial biotechnology, Food biotechnology, Waste utilization, Value added products, Bioremediation, Biopolymers and Bioplastics. He has published more than 75 research articles in reputed international journals along with 8 books and 22 book chapters; and presented more than 40 abstracts in national/international conferences/symposia. He has been serving as an Editor / Editorial Board Member and Reviewer of various international reputed journals. He has been awarded Young Scientist Projects from the Department of Science and Technology, India and International Foundation for Science, Sweden.
Susanne E la Fleur
Associate Professor at the Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam and Visiting Professor at Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7. Our group is working on unravelling the mechanistic link between diet composition and the development of obesity and diabetes as a first step towards better understanding the pathogenesis of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, focussing on the role of the brain.
Safarina G Malik
Safarina G. Malik is a Principal Investigator at the Genome Diversity and Disease Division of the Mochtar Riady Institute for Nanotechnology, Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia, since January 2022. From 2011 to 2021 she lead the Lifestyle Diseases Research Group at the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology, Jakarta, Indonesia. Her key research topics and expertise include genetic diversity, microbiome, mitochondrial genetics and dysfunction, medical genetics, lifestyle disease association, nutrigenetics-nutrigenomics, population genetics and evolution.
David Meyre
David Meyre completed a PhD in quantitative plant genetics in France. Since 2001, he has been working on the elucidation of the genetic bases of obesity and type 2 diabetes. In 2004, he published the first family-based genome-wide scans for childhood and severe adult obesity. He completed the two first successful positional cloning efforts for childhood and severe adult obesity, which identified the positional candidate genes ENPP1 and PCSK1. In 2007, he contributed to the identification of the major susceptibility gene for polygenic obesity FTO. In 2009, he published the first genome-wide association study of extreme obesity in the French population and identified four novel susceptibility-loci. In 2010, he conducted the first genome-wide association meta-analysis for early-onset extreme obesity in German and French populations. In 2012, he identified the third more common form of monogenic obesity (PCSK1 partial deficiency) and demonstrated an important role of the lipid sensor GPR120 in human obesity. He also discovered the first molecular link between obesity and major depression. In 2013, he discovered a novel gene (SIM1) responsible for a syndromic Mendelian form of childhood obesity. In 2016, he discovered that physical activity can blunt the effect of the obesity predisposing gene FTO in diverse ethnic groups. He also demonstrated that genes can predict the outcomes of different types of bariatric surgery.
Aya Mousa
Dr Aya Mousa is a NHMRC biomedical research fellow and the Head of Diabetes, Metabolic and Reproductive Health research at the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI), Monash University.
Dr Mousa leads a team at MCHRI focusing on diabetes, metabolic and reproductive disorders, which includes work in obesity, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, and in pregnancy including gestational diabetes and the cross-talk between metabolic and reproductive disorders.
Shobana Navaneethabalakrishnan
I received my PhD in Reproductive Endocrinology from University of Madras, India where I studied the molecular mechanism underlying the repression of follicle stimulating hormone receptor and androgen receptor in Sertoli cells of F1 progeny rats with gestational exposure to hexavalent chromium. I have successfully attained inter-laboratory collaboration to study the effect of gestational exposure to excess hexavalent chromium on insulin signaling molecules and glucose homeostasis in F1 progeny rats. Currently, my research focus is to understand the role of gonadal macrophage polarization in reproductive dysfunction associated with hypertension in both men and women.
Giribabu Nelli
Dr. Giribabu Nelli is a Senior Lecturer within the Department of Physiology at Universiti Malaya.
Hi primary research areas include, Reproductive Biology, Diabetes and their complications, and Natural Products Research.
Lorraine O'Driscoll
Lorraine O'Driscoll (BSc(Hons, Pharm), MSc(Res, Clin Pharm), MA(Ed), PhD(Biotech), FTCD) Lorraine holds a BSc(Hons),pharmacology; MSc(Res), clinical pharmacology; MA, education; PhD, biotechnology. In 2012, she was elected to Fellowship in TCD. Following her PhD, Lorraine undertook biotechnology/biomedical research for US and EU industry (including Berlex; Archport Ltd-Axonobel; MediSyn Ltd; MedaNova Ltd.) before returning to academia. At post-doctoral level, she gained experience at the Dana-Farber Harvard Cancer Institute and University of Miami. Prior to joining TCD in 2008, Lorraine most recently held the position of Senior Research Programme Leader and Lecturer in School of Biotechnology, DCU.
Her research group focuses on diagnostic, prognostic and predictive biomarkers; discovering new therapeutic targets; cancer cells communication via exosomes, microvesicles and CTCs; elucidating and circumventing resistance to targets agents and classical chemotherapy; associations between obesity, metabolic syndrome and cancer.
She has been a P.I. on 5 cancer clinical trials with ICORG. She is TCD's Principal Investigator on SFI-supported Molecular Therapeutics for Cancer Ireland; Strand Leader of Irish Cancer Society-supported Breast-PREDICT; and P.I. and Chair, H2020-supported European Network Cooperation in Science and Technology focussed on Exosomes & Microvesicles in Health & Disease which brings together researchers from around the world, in academia and industry.
Sonia MR Oliveira
Doctor Sonia Oliveira holds a Licenciatura in Biology (pre-Bologna) and a Master in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Aveiro, where she also specialized in medicinal plants, toxicology, murine models, and spermatogenesis. In 2011 she moved to Australia to work in Reproductive Biological Sciences. She later explored the nerve-cancer connection in Cancer, namely in female cancers, and completed her Ph.D. in Human Physiology ( with a significant component in Medical Biochemistry and Neurophysiology) from the University of Newcastle (Australia) in 2018. She then worked with biomimetic systems and nanotechnology in diabetes and stem cells. She explored multiple methods for primary and secondary cell culture, always with a keen interest in histopathology, cell biology, and rare disorders. Participated in >40 event(s). (Co-)Supervised MSc dissertation(s) and final projects for course completion of LSc/BSc. And works mostly in the area(s) of Natural sciences with emphasis on Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Medical and Health Sciences with emphasis on Neurosciences, Cancer, Reproduction, Toxicology, Biotechnology, and Stem cells. Also has collaborations in Microbiology, Biomaterials, and Communication and Information technologies.
Patrícia Padilha
Prof. Patrícia Padilha holds a PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the Josué de Castro Nutrition Institute (INJC) of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), where she holds the position of Associate Professor at the INJC of UFRJ. Prof. Padilha is also leader of the Nutrition and Pediatrics Research Center (NUTPED), which is linked to the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics (maternal and child sector) and develops its care activities at the Instituto de Puericultura e Pediatria Martagão Gesteira (IPPMG/UFRJ), including participation in an outpatient clinic for nutritional support and diabetes. As a researcher, Prof. Padilha is accredited to the Postgraduate Program in Nutrition at INJC/UFRJ and in the Master's Program in Maternal and Child Health at IPPMG/UFRJ, and since 2020 she has been a Research Productivity fellow at CNPq. She is currently coordinator of the Integrated Multi-professional Residency Program in Child and Adolescent Health at IPPMG / UFRJ. She has experience in the field of Nutrition, with an emphasis on maternal and child nutrition, working mainly on the following topics: nutritional therapy in pediatrics, clinical nutrition in pediatrics, prenatal nutritional assistance and nutrition applied to chronic diseases in pediatrics.