Mitochondria are highly dynamic organelles essential for the survival of the cell. Mitochondrial dynamics has been linked to different physiological functions, and contacts with other organelles are required for specific metabolic activity and mitochondrial behaviour. Indeed, endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria work together and their closed juxtaposition is considered as a signalling platform for metabolite flux. Alteration of these contacts has been associated with defects in cellular homeostasis and with human disease. The goal of our group is to characterise the architecture and understand the associated functions of these inter-organelle contacts. Using biochemical, molecular and cell biological approaches, we want to investigate the function of the mitochondria/endoplasmic reticulum contact sites in different cell physiology processes including cell death, lipid and calcium fluxes and cell migration. This work will lead us to obtaining new insights into the importance of mitochondria and mitochondria/ER contacts in cellular signalling pathways, and to better understanding the pathomechanisms underpinning human diseases associated with defects in their regulation and dynamics.

Understanding the relationship between nutrition and health requires detailed measurements of food and drink habits and the health status of the population at large. Specific research studies may also need to be conducted to test whether certain policy interventions have the desired effect. This evidence can then be used to monitor and develop policies to improve health. Activities include the national collection of information on dietary habits and on the health of the public, often including collecting samples of blood or urine. This may involve liaison with hospitals around the country or using mobile clinics. This requires very rigorous procedures to ensure the data is collected appropriately and handled confidentially and we have developed many new procedures to do so. EWL’s specialist teams analyse information to understand dietary habits and our laboratories are able to measure a very broad range of nutrients in the body. We write reports detailing the results, often for government and these are used to inform the development of public health policy. For example, data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey is used to identify any deficiencies in specific nutrients, perhaps in particular sub-groups of the population and to monitor changes over time. We are also involved in measuring the response to a micronutrient supplementation in Africa.

The prevalence of childhood obesity has increased rapidly over the past two decades. Excess weight in childhood tracks into adult life and causes problems both in the short term and in the long term. National surveys show that more than one in five children are already overweight (13%) or obese (10%) when they start school. Hence any efforts to prevent obesity must start early. The Foresight Report and the Healthy Weight Healthy Lives strategy have highlighted the importance of preventing childhood obesity by focussing on the early years. However, to date there is little evidence on which to develop effective preventive strategies. Infancy is a period of rapid growth and weight gain and obesity prevention during this period may be effective. Nutrition and growth during infancy may also have long term effects by altering eating behaviours and risks of obesity and obesity-related disorders in later life. UK Infant Feeding Surveys show that at birth one in three (35%) of babies receive formula-milk and this number increases to almost all babies (92%) at 6 months of age. Hence, in addition to promoting breastfeeding, it important to optimise the growth of formula-milk fed babies. Our previous research shows that parents who give their babies formula-milk as part of their everyday diet need more information and support. Researchers at the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR) and MRC Epidemiology Unit in Cambridge have been working with mothers and healthcare professionals to develop a feeding programme which aims to avoid excess weight gain in formula-milk fed babies. The programme we have developed aims to support parents who feed their babies formula-milk to achieve a healthy pattern of growth and weight gain. The infant feeding programme will be tested in a randomised controlled trial involving 700 mothers and their babies. Half the mothers will be given advice and support to follow the new feeding programme. The other half will be given routine advice about formula-milk feeding and weaning. The growth of babies in the two groups will be compared. This comparison is important to test whether our new feeding programme is effective in preventing excess weight gain and subsequent obesity. The results of the study will help to inform infant feeding guidelines and will also help us understand the links between infant feeding, behaviour, appetite and growth.

Many studies in the medical sciences involve the measurement of several aspects on each individual on repeated occasions. Often, scientific interest is in studying the inter-relationships, which might be causal, between measurements. Graphical modelling provides a strategy for translating substantive hypotheses about causal relationships into a statistical model. Further, scientifically relevant results from the statistical analysis of the data can be communicated through an intuitively natural graphical representation of the fitted model. The aim of this project is to make use of recent developments in the area of graphical models to advance research in medical contexts, including developmental psychology, neuropsychology and brain ageing. This project will focus on two areas: 1) assessment of decline in the cognitive functions of Alzheimer‘s patients and 2) identification of particular executive and social-cognitive problems associated with focal epilepsy in children. Evaluation of data to study development and deterioration of cognitive performance in individuals requires the consideration of latent variables to represent qualities of individual subjects that cannot be measured directly. Often the directly observed data are qualitative, for example success or failure on a psychometric test. A major goal is to develop a flexible modelling strategy for data of this kind.

Mitochondria are an essential cellular organelle. They produce the majority of the cell’s energy and perform a number of protective roles such as sequestering potentially harmful chemicals. These processes are especially critical in high energy-demanding tissues such as brain and heart. There exist many processes that maintain a healthy network of mitochondria, including the regulated destruction of dysfunctional or damaged organelles. It is known that disturbances in these processes can lead to age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and motor neuron disease. Our group aims to understand how these processes work in order that we can devise ways to reverse or circumvent the root cause of such diseases. To do this we principally use the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model system. Drosophila have become a pre-eminent model system for biomedical research due to their remarkable conservation in cellular and molecular processes and the wide array of genetic tools available. This provides a powerful approach with which to unravel the basis of biological malfunctions that cause neurodegenerative diseases.