Dr Beatrice Maria Filippi

Profile

I joined the University of Leeds in August 2016 to work on insulin signalling in the brain. My laboratory studies how insulin in a specific area of the brain called the dorsal vagal complex modulates glucose metabolism and feeding behaviour in normal, obese and diabetic rodent models. 

Before moving to Leeds, I trained at the Toronto General Research Institute, Toronto, Canada under the supervision of Professor Tony Lam where I learned about metabolism and how the brain keeps whole body energy homeostasis. Before Toronto, I spent 3 years in the MRC-Protein Phosphorylation Unit, Dundee, UK, under the supervision of Professor Dario Alessi. In Dundee, I become an expert in dissecting signalling pathway at the molecular level. I did my PhD in Italy at the Consorzio Mario Negri Sud under the supervision of Dr Daniela Corda and with Professor Victoria Allan (Manchester ) as the second supervisor. 

From April 2017 until March 2019 I was funded by a Marie Curie individual fellowship.

Since April 2019 I am funded by A Career development fellowship from the MRC.

Research interests

Diabetes and obesity are epidemic diseases that are rising among the world population. Eight out of 10 men and almost 7 in 10 women will be overweight or obese by 2020. Most of these overweight/obese individuals are more prone to develop insulin resistance and diabetes. Overnutrition is the predominant pathogenic inducer of insulin resistance, which is mainly caused by increased circulating levels of glucose, free fatty acid (FFA) and amino acids. The increase of these circulating factors causes intracellular stresses such as mitochondrial oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, which occur both in peripheral tissues and in the Central Nervous System (CNS). The CNS collects peripheral inputs to regulate the metabolic status of an individual and signals back to the periphery in order to keep metabolic homeostasis. Any alteration of these processes can lead to metabolic diseases and vice versa. Since overnutrition affects the CNS regulatory functions, restoring the brain’s ability to modulate metabolic functions could be very important to overcome a pathological condition.

My laboratory studies how insulin in a specific area of the brain called the dorsal vagal complex modulates glucose metabolism and feeding behaviour in normal, obese and diabetic rodent models. We use in vivo techniques that require surgical implants in rats in order to inject specific treatments in the brain, and in vitro biochemical and molecular biology techniques to uncover the molecular mechanism behind insulin signalling and resistance in the brain. The brain collects inputs from around the body to regulate the glucose metabolism of an individual and signals back to the peripheral organs to ensure a balanced hormonal response and keep steady levels of glucose in the blood. Alteration of these hormonal and metabolic processes can lead to metabolic diseases (e.g. diabetes) and vice versa. Restoring the brain’s ability to modulate metabolic functions is very important to improve disease conditions associated with obesity and diabetes.

Qualifications

• PhD

Research groups and institutes

• Neuroscience and Behaviour
• Molecular Neuroscience
• Neural Circuits

Current postgraduate researchers

• Arianna Fozzato

Projects

<li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/1898-how-gaba-neurones-in-the-dvc-control-glucose-metabolism">How GABA neurones in the DVC control glucose metabolism</a></li>