IMES Integrating Metabolic and Endocrine Science: A Discovery Research Platform for the Study of Metabolic Health and Disease

Metabolism is the process by which organisms handle energy and the materials needed to grow, reproduce, and remain healthy. These processes require sophisticated coordination, largely provided by hormones, circulating at low concentrations and interacting with receptors with high affinity and specificity. As well as controlling the disposition of macronutrients, hormones act on the brain to control appetite and food intake. Dysfunction of these processes underpins highly prevalent disorders such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, thyroid disorders, and cachexia, which are quintessentially disorders of systems, not simply cells. A major challenge to the field, both basic and translational, has been the requirement to work across many levels in cells, humans and model organisms and to meaningfully integrate data. Building on our exceptional track record, we propose to create a Discovery Research Platform (DRP) that will integrate information from cellular studies, model organisms, human genetic, physiological and population studies to break down barriers between classical disciplines and provide a rich resource for the research community. We will engineer the DRP to be a beacon for advances in research culture that value and support participants in their efforts to understand human integrative biology and exploit that knowledge for human benefit.