Timing of physical exercise to prevent and treat type 2 diabetes in humans: the mechanistic role of circadian rythms in metabolic tissues

Would you like to describe the project in short with a few sentences (popular science)?

“The goal is to investigate how the timing of exercise impacts metabolism in type 2 diabetes. The project will focus on the underlying molecular mechanisms, i.e. at the genomic and molecular level, and aims to do follow-up experiments in preclinical models.”

Would you like to tell us a little about the cross-disciplinary aspects of the project?

” We teamed up with Jonas Bergquist, at the Dept. of Chemistry, as there are many metabolite and proteins that require special methods for detection. These include melatonin, which can be quite hard to detect using conventional analytical methods such as ELISAs.”

How was the project and collaboration born?

” I have always been interested in the interplay between sleep and circadian rhythms one the one hand, and lifestyle factors such as exercise and diet. We still know very little of how exercise changes our circadian rhythms, even though both exercise and circadian rhythms impinge heavily on metabolic pathways. I had previously worked with Jonas on similar projects, and thought it would be exciting to think of novel molecular techniques to deploy to delve into the mechanisms of how the timing of exercise changes metabolism.”

How can UDC be of help in your research?

”Supporting the PhD student will be extremely valuable, in terms of educational activities, and networking.”

What can UDC do to make the PhD students feel like they belong to the centre?

”Having regular meetings among students, and perhaps where you also get to meet different PI:s. Another example could be regular workshops where you can exchange ideas and develop in areas such as coding and metabolism.”

Which UDC activities will be meaningful for this project?

“Courses in metabolism and bioinformatics, as well as a journal club, would be greatly appreciate, and if there were regular coding workshops for students to continue to develop in these areas.”