Genomics of Obesity and Metabolic Health in the Kilpeläinen Group
The Kilpeläinen Group investigates the influence of genes on obesity and metabolic health, to find new ways to prevent obesity-related metabolic diseases.
Obesity often leads to an adverse metabolic risk profile and increased risk of disease. However, the relationship between obesity and metabolic health is not straightforward. The magnitude and rate by which metabolic health deteriorates during weight gain or improves during weight loss differs widely between individuals. The overarching objective of the Kilpeläinen group is to understand how genetic factors, in interaction with lifestyle, modulate the relationship between weight gain and metabolic health.
"By combining dynamic study designs and multi-omics profiling with health registry data, the group is ideally positioned to identify the factors that modulate the relationship between weight gain and metabolic health. This could open avenues for new treatments.", says Associate Professor and Group Leader Tuomas Kilpeläinen.
"Genes that make you fat, but keep you healthy"
Published in Journal of Internal Medicine in 2018, this review outlines evidence of genetic variants that show association with higher adiposity, but paradoxically, a lower risk of cardiometabolic disease.
"Genetic variation near IRS1 associates with reduced adiposity and an impaired metabolic profile
Published in Nature Genetics in 2011, this study identifies a genetic variant near the insulin receptor substrate-1 gene, the body fat-decreasing allele of which is associated with an adverse metabolic profile and increased risk of diabetes and coronary artery disease
“Genome-wide physical activity interactions in adiposity – a meta-analysis of 200,452 adults”
Published in PLOS Genetics in 2017 this study uses data from 200,452 adults to identify genetic variants that interact with physical activity in their influences on obesity.
Group Leader
Tuomas Oskari Kilpeläinen
Associate Professor
Phone +45 3533 2247
tuomas.kilpelainen@sund.ku.dk
Group members
| Name | Title | Job responsibilities | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Azawi, Mustafa Khudhair Abbas | Master student | Kilpeläinen Group, Genomics Discovery and Epidemiolog | +45 81 92 43 69 | |
| Belanich, Jonathan Robert | Postdoc | Kilpeläinen Group, Genomics Discovery and Epidemiology | +45 353-26559 | |
| Carrasquilla, Germán D. | Postdoc | Kilpeläinen Group, Genomics Discovery and Epidemiology | +45 353-34595 | |
| Charmet, Romain Michel-Louis To | Postdoc | Kilpeläinen Group, Genomics of Obesity and Metabolic Health | +45 353-35316 | |
| Christiansen, Malene Revsbech | PhD student | Kilpeläinen Group, Genomics Discovery and Epidemiology | +45 353-22249 | |
| Drag, Markus Hodal | Postdoc | Kilpeläinen Group, Genomics of Obesity and Metabolic Health | +45 353-31325 | |
| García Ureña, Mario | Research assistant | Kilpeläinen Group, Genomics of Obesity and Metabolic Health | ||
| Jakupovic, Hermina | PhD student | Kilpeläinen Group, Genomics of Obesity and Metabolic Health | +45 353-34674 | |
| Metz, Sophia | PhD student | Kilpeläinen Group, Genomics of Obesity and Metabolic Health | +45 353-36653 | |
| Oskari Kilpeläinen, Tuomas | Associate professor | Group Leader, Kilpeläinen Group, Genomics of Obesity and Metabolic Health | +45 353-32247 | |
| Tomaselli Gonzalez, Claudia | Erasmus master student | Kilpeläinen Group, Genomics Discovery and Epidemiolog |
From the left: Sophia Metz, Lam Opal Huang, German Dario Carrasquilla Lopez, Tuomas Oskari Kilpeläinen, Hermina Jakupovic and Anna Maria Viitasalo.