Keywords
Obesity, weight management, appetite, food
interventions, health claims, drug development,
clinical research, clinical trials
Expertise
The University of Liverpool has a long history of research
into the biology of energy regulation, obesity and obesity
related illness. Activities in this area centre around the
Liverpool Obesity Research Network, which
comprises key research and clinical laboratories based
across the University of Liverpool, Aintree University
Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal Liverpool
and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust.
The Liverpool Obesity Research Network
specialises in:
•
Pre-clinical and clinical studies of appetite control,
diabetes, energy balance and weight management
•
Discovery science focused on the role of the central
nervous system, the gut and adipose tissue in energy
regulation and appetite
•
Biopsychology of appetite expression – the psycho-
logical, physiological and biological mechanisms
underpinning lean and obese differences in appetite
•
Clinical investigation of mechanisms linking obesity
To adverse health consequences such as type 2
diabetes, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnoea
and fatty liver disease
•
Public health epidemiology of obesity and evaluation
of nutrition programmes
•
Veterinary obesity research, with Europe’s only clinical
centre for weight control in companion animals
•
Public health policy, including the regulation and
monitoring of the global marketing of foods and
beverages to children
•
Functional imaging and cognitive neuroscience studies
to understand human responsiveness to food cues.
To tackle obesity it is important for policy-makers to have
a social and biological perspective on appetite and the
factors that lead to obesity. Our strong multidisciplinary
approach also addresses public health policy in this domain.
We collaborate with primary care providers to develop
and evaluate interventions including commercial weight
management programmes.
We work extensively with key stakeholders to develop
innovative and effective approaches to managing obesity
and related conditions. We have partnerships with actors
in a variety of industry sectors including functional food,
nutraceuticals, medical and surgical devices, commercial
weight management programmes and the pharmaceutical
industries. We also provide expertise to key governmental
bodies such as the National Institute for Clinical Excellence
(
NICE), regularity authorities, and international health
organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Applications
Our research provides partners with proof of concept
and characterises mechanisms of action for novel foods,
behaviour interventions and pharmacological and surgical
treatments for obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
We also have the capabilities to run full-scale clinical trials
to demonstrate the efficacy of pharmaceutical and food-
based approaches to reduce appetite, strengthen satiety,
reduce energy intake, alter energy balance, change
endocrine and metabolic function, reduce body weight,
change body composition and prevent weight regain.
Capabilities and facilities
•
Clinical research facility based at Aintree
University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
•
Universal eating monitors – for automated
measurement of food intake and changes in
appetite during a meal
•
Indirect calorimetry techniques – measure metabolic
rate and energy expenditure in response to food
consumption or drug treatments.
The Kissileff Laboratory
This purpose-built suite of rooms is designed for
experimental studies of human eating. Facilities
include:
--
iDXA whole body composition analysis
--
Social eating laboratory for the analysis of
mother-infant interactions
--
Facilities to take biological samples (blood, urine,
faecal and breath). The University has the expertise
to investigate these concerns and help citizens
find solutions to the problems of living and
working with low-carbon constraints.
Our dedicated clinical research facility at
Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation
Trust is fully equipped for clinical appetite and
obesity studies.
The facility includes:
--
Exercise equipment
--
Body composition measurements by air
displacement plethysmography
--
Indirect calorimetry
--
Facilities for peptide infusions
--
Euglycaemic clamp measurements of insulin
resistance
--
Vascular assessment instrumentation (pulse
wave analysis, heart rate and BP variability).
Relevant centres and groups
•
The Kissileff Laboratory
•
Liverpool Obesity Research Network
Health & Wellbeing
32
5.2
Obesity, appetite and diabetes
Also see:
Food Security & Safety
–
3.2
Functional foods, page 137
Society & Culture
–
5.
Cultures and health, page 172
For further information
on all our specialist
centres, facilities and
laboratories
go to page
179
