Stephen O'Rahilly

Professor
Sir Stephen O'Rahilly
FRS FRCP FRCPI FRCPath FMedSci FRSB MRIA
Born (1958-04-01) 1 April 1958 (age 66)[1]
Dublin, Ireland
CitizenshipIreland
United Kingdom
Alma materUniversity College Dublin (MB, BCh, BAO, MD)
Spouse
Suzy Oakes
​
​
(m. 1990; died 2011)​
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsBariatrics
Institutions
Websitewww.mrl.ims.cam.ac.uk/research/principal-investigators/professor-sir-stephen-orahilly

Sir Stephen Patrick O'Rahilly (born 1 April 1958) is an Irish-British physician and scientist known for his research into the molecular pathogenesis of human obesity, insulin resistance and related metabolic and endocrine disorders.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

Early life and education

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O'Rahilly was born on 1 April 1958 in Dublin, Ireland.[11][12] He was educated at Beneavin De La Salle College in Finglas, Dublin.[1] He studied medicine at University College Dublin, graduating in 1981 with Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, Bachelor of Obstetrics (MB BCh BAO) degrees.[11][12] He later continued his studies and completed a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree in 1987.[12]

Research

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O'Rahilly undertook research into Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance at the University of Oxford and Harvard Medical School, before joining the University of Cambridge where he is a Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Medicine, Director of the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science-Metabolic Research Laboratories,[13] Director of the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit[13] and co-director of the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science. He is also the scientific Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Associate Faculty at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and honorary consultant physician at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge.[14][15][16] He is a professorial fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge.

Notable Cambridge scientists with whom O'Rahilly has shared paper authorship include Krishna Chatterjee, David Dunger, Sadaf Farooqi, Nita Forouhi, Antonio Vidal-Puig, Nick Wareham, and Giles Yeo.

Awards and honours

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O'Rahilly was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1999, the Royal Society in 2003. His nomination reads:

Stephen O'Rahilly has made major contributions to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying human disorders of energy balance and metabolism. His work first established that mutations in single genes could result in severe human obesity and that these defects largely acted through disruption of central satiety mechanisms. These findings have altered clinical approaches to the evaluation of the obese child and have identified a subtype of obesity amenable to dramatically effective therapy. His studies of patients with extreme insensitivity to insulin have also provided new insights into human insulin action and its disruption in states of insulin resistance.[17]

He was awarded the Heinrich Wieland Prize[18] in 2002, the InBev-Baillet Latour Health Prize in 2010[19] and the Debrecen Award for Molecular Medicine in 2014.[20] He delivered the 2016 Harveian Oration[21] at the Royal College of Physicians of London.

O'Rahilly was knighted in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to medical research.[22][23]

In 2017, he became a member of the Royal Irish Academy.[24] In 2018, he was made an Honorary Doctor of RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dublin.[25]

In 2019, O'Rahilly was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (LSW).[26] He was also awarded the Banting Medal for his contributions towards diabetes research by the American Diabetes Association in the same year.[27]

O'Rahilly was awarded the Croonian Medal in 2011 by the Royal College of Physicians. He was awarded it again, by the Royal Society in 2022, this time jointly with Sadaf Farooqi and they presented their lecture[28] at the Royal Society in 2022.

In 2023, O'Rahilly was awarded the OU Health Harold Hamm International Prize for Biomedical Research in Diabetes for his outstanding research into the link between obesity and Type 2 diabetes.[29]

Personal life

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O’Rahilly lives in Cambridge, England with his wife, journalist Philippa Lamb, and his stepson Felix Lamb. He was married to Suzy Oakes from 1990 until her death in 2011.

He holds dual Irish and British citizenship.[30]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "O'RAHILLY, Prof. Stephen". Who's Who. Vol. 2015 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ Neill, U. S. (2013). "A conversation with Stephen O'Rahilly". Journal of Clinical Investigation. 123 (6): 2335–2336. doi:10.1172/JCI70726. PMC 3668822. PMID 23722908.
  3. ^ Weston, K. (2011). "Translating metabolic biochemistry into the clinic: An interview with Steve O'Rahilly". Disease Models & Mechanisms. 4 (2): 141–144. doi:10.1242/dmm.007641. PMC 3046085. PMID 21357759.
  4. ^ Gerken, T.; Girard, C. A.; Tung, Y. -C. L.; Webby, C. J.; Saudek, V.; Hewitson, K. S.; Yeo, G. S. H.; McDonough, M. A.; Cunliffe, S.; McNeill, L. A.; Galvanovskis, J.; Rorsman, P.; Robins, P.; Prieur, X.; Coll, A. P.; Ma, M.; Jovanovic, Z.; Farooqi, I. S.; Sedgwick, B.; Barroso, I.; Lindahl, T.; Ponting, C. P.; Ashcroft, F. M.; O'Rahilly, S.; Schofield, C. J. (2007). "The Obesity-Associated FTO Gene Encodes a 2-Oxoglutarate-Dependent Nucleic Acid Demethylase". Science. 318 (5855): 1469–1472. Bibcode:2007Sci...318.1469G. doi:10.1126/science.1151710. PMC 2668859. PMID 17991826.
  5. ^ Stephen O'Rahilly's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  6. ^ Oʼrahilly, Stephen; Montague, C. T.; Farooqi, I. S.; Whitehead, J. P.; Soos, M. A.; Rau, H.; Wareham, N. J.; Sewter, C. P.; Digby, J. E.; Mohammed, S. N.; Hurst, J. A.; Cheetham, C. H.; Earley, A. R.; Barnett, A. H.; Prins, J. B. (1997). "Congenital leptin deficiency is associated with severe early-onset obesity in humans". Nature. 387 (6636): 903–8. Bibcode:1997Natur.387..903M. doi:10.1038/43185. PMID 9202122. S2CID 205032762.
  7. ^ Seminara, S. B.; Messager, S.; Chatzidaki, E. E.; Thresher, R. R.; Acierno, J. S.; Shagoury, J. K.; Bo-Abbas, Y.; Kuohung, W.; Schwinof, K. M.; Hendrick, A. G.; Zahn, D.; Dixon, J.; Kaiser, U. B.; Slaugenhaupt, S. A.; Gusella, J. F.; O'Rahilly, S.; Carlton, M. B. L.; Crowley, W. F.; Aparicio, S. A. J. R.; Colledge, W. H. (2003). "TheGPR54Gene as a Regulator of Puberty". New England Journal of Medicine. 349 (17): 1614–27. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa035322. PMID 14573733.
  8. ^ Farooqi, I. S; Jebb, S. A.; Langmack, G.; Lawrence, E.; Cheetham, C. H.; Prentice, A. M.; Hughes, I. A.; McCamish, M. A.; O'Rahilly, S. (1999). "Effects of Recombinant Leptin Therapy in a Child with Congenital Leptin Deficiency". New England Journal of Medicine. 341 (12): 879–84. doi:10.1056/NEJM199909163411204. PMID 10486419.
  9. ^ Payne, F.; Lim, K.; Girousse, A.; Brown, R. J.; Kory, N.; Robbins, A.; Xue, Y.; Sleigh, A.; Cochran, E.; Adams, C.; Dev Borman, A.; Russel-Jones, D.; Gorden, P.; Semple, R. K.; Saudek, V.; O'Rahilly, S.; Walther, T. C.; Barroso, I.; Savage, D. B. (2014). "Mutations disrupting the Kennedy phosphatidylcholine pathway in humans with congenital lipodystrophy and fatty liver disease". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111 (24): 8901–8906. Bibcode:2014PNAS..111.8901P. doi:10.1073/pnas.1408523111. PMC 4066527. PMID 24889630.
  10. ^ "Professor Steve O'Rahilly, Head of Department and Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Medicine". University of Cambridge. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014.
  11. ^ a b Ellen Ruppel Shell, Fat Genes, Discover Magazine, 1 May 2000
  12. ^ a b c "O'Rahilly, Sir Stephen (Patrick), (born 1 April 1958), Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Medicine (formerly Professor of Metabolic Medicine), Departments of Medicine and Clinical Biochemistry, since 1996, Head, Clinical Biochemistry Department, since 2002, and Director, Institute of Metabolic Science, Metabolic Research Laboratories, since 2007, University of Cambridge; Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, since 2007; Hon. Consultant Physician, Addenbrooke's Hospital, since 1994; Director, MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit (formerly MRC Centre for Obesity and Related Metabolic Diseases), since 2007; Scientific Director, NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, since 2010". Who's Who 2023. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  13. ^ a b "Stephen O'Rahilly, University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories". Archived from the original on 14 June 2014.
  14. ^ "NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre Web Site".[dead link‍]
  15. ^ Roberts, E. W.; Deonarine, A; Jones, J. O.; Denton, A. E.; Feig, C; Lyons, S. K.; Espeli, M; Kraman, M; McKenna, B; Wells, R. J.; Zhao, Q; Caballero, O. L.; Larder, R; Coll, A. P.; O'Rahilly, S; Brindle, K. M.; Teichmann, S. A.; Tuveson, D. A.; Fearon, D. T. (2013). "Depletion of stromal cells expressing fibroblast activation protein-α from skeletal muscle and bone marrow results in cachexia and anemia". Journal of Experimental Medicine. 210 (6): 1137–51. doi:10.1084/jem.20122344. PMC 3674708. PMID 23712428.Open access icon
  16. ^ Loos, R. J.; Lindgren, C. M.; Li, S; Wheeler, E; Zhao, J. H.; Prokopenko, I; Inouye, M; Freathy, R. M.; Attwood, A. P.; Beckmann, J. S.; Berndt, S. I.; Prostate, Lung; Jacobs, K. B.; Chanock, S. J.; Hayes, R. B.; Bergmann, S; Bennett, A. J.; Bingham, S. A.; Bochud, M; Brown, M; Cauchi, S; Connell, J. M.; Cooper, C; Smith, G. D.; Day, I; Dina, C; De, S; Dermitzakis, E. T.; Doney, A. S.; et al. (2008). "Common variants near MC4R are associated with fat mass, weight and risk of obesity". Nature Genetics. 40 (6): 768–75. doi:10.1038/ng.140. PMC 2669167. PMID 18454148.
  17. ^ "EC/2003/27: O'Rahilly, Stephen Patrick". London: The Royal Society. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015.
  18. ^ Heinrich Wieland Prize Archived 12 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ "Professor Stephen O'Rahilly wins the 2010 InBev-Baillet Latour Prize". Disease Models & Mechanisms. 3 (7–8): 402. 2010. doi:10.1242/dmm.006080. PMID 20610691.
  20. ^ "Debrecen Award for Molecular Medicine". University of Debrecen. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  21. ^ "Harveian Oration and dinner 2016". Royal College of Physician. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  22. ^ "No. 60534". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 2013. p. 1.
  23. ^ Stephen O'Rahilly knighted, BBC News, 14 June 2013
  24. ^ "18 New Members of the Royal Irish Academy". Royal Irish Academy. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  25. ^ "RCSI celebrates graduation of 900 healthcare and research professionals". Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. 15 November 2018.
  26. ^ LSW Honorary Fellows The Learned Society of Wales, 20 May 2019
  27. ^ 2019 Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement - Stephen O'Rahilly, MD, ADA Diabetes Pro, 20 May 2019
  28. ^ Croonian Medal and Lecture The Royal Society, 14 April 2022
  29. ^ McIntosh, Kate (7 June 2023). "2023 OU Health Harold Hamm International Prize for Biomedical Research in Diabetes". For staff. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  30. ^ Keenan, Dan (15 June 2013). "Irish research scientist to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth". The Irish Times.
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