The molecular aetiology of central obesity: moving from variant to function using large-scale data-driven approaches.

Obesity is a result of an inherited tendency for weight gain acting together with environmental factors (excess food intake in combination with lack of exercise). Genetic factors can affect appetite, but also how and where the body stores fat. Fat in the abdomen is associated with far more serious effects than fat deposited elsewhere. My work has shown that there are different biology influencing overall obesity than fat concentrating in the abdomen. It is important to understand differences in the ways in which individuals vary in the amount of fat they accumulate, and where their bodies store this fat. I will test possible explanations for how the fat is distributed over the body and why some people store fat preferentially in the abdomen. By developing a better understanding of causal mechanisms regulating central fat storage we may learn what biological pathways we should target for drug intervention.