Obesity-type 2 diabetes-metabolism

The obesity–type 2 diabetes–metabolism component includes 40 researchers who are supervising 35 nurses and research professionals as well as 61 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. In Canada, this component is considered one of the most significant groups involved in obesity. The Institute houses one of Canadian most important bariatric surgical teams made up of eight surgeons performing on an annual basis nearly 700 primary procedures to treat obesity.

Approximately 40% of the bariatric population has type 2 diabetes and we increasingly consider that surgery represents a preferred treatment for this condition in the person with severe obesity.

Numerous contemporary scientific concerns are considered, including the neurophysiological control of energy balance, the role of gut microbiota, the molecular mechanisms of obesity and diabetes-related metabolic complications, the beneficial effects of bariatric surgery as well as the clinical approaches focused on prevention, on treatment, and on evaluating therapies of this condition of being very fat or overweight. The technological approaches span a very broad spectrum and include nutrition, behaviour, evaluative research, surgery, neurobiology and brain imaging, psychology, physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics, applied to humans as well as animal, tissue and cell models.

The research component also includes among its assets the “Obesity” sector of the Institute’s biobank that counts 40,000 samples for research in obesity, type 2 diabetes and metabolism. This element is fostering links between the clinical practice and the basic science.

(Data 2021-2022)

Preferred topics

Metabolism and energy homoeostasis: regulatory mechanisms and molecular, cellular and microbiological aspects
Obesity and type 2 diabetes: metabolic and cardiovascular complications
Bariatric surgery: impact, development and mechanisms of action
Interventions in the prevention/treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes

Research chairs

Canada Research Excellence Chair in the Microbiome-Endocannabinoidome Axis in Metabolic Health (Vincenzo Di Marzo)
Research Chair in Obesity (Denis Richard)
Research Chair in Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery (André Tchernof)
Canada Research Chair in Physical Activity, Nutrition and Energy Balance (Angelo Tremblay)
Research Chair in partnership on the endocannabinoid system in cardiometabolic health (Cristoforo Silvestri)