Physician-scientist interested in the causes and adverse consequences of obesity. Director MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit, University of Cambridge. Views mine.
Cambridge, England
Joined May 2011
- Tweets5.2K
- Following391
- Followers10K
- Likes7.3K
Cambridge colleagues often state that this tragedy was attributable to a vicious pile-on from right wing and even racist commentators. Though there is an element of truth there, Grove’s account from the Times Higher Education Supplement provides much needed clarity
Recognition from fellow journalists is much appreciated as this is undoubtedly a difficult and polarising story, with a tragic outcome. Many people still do not accept its legitimacy but it was an important public interest story which sparked public debate about key issues of our age timeshighereducation.com/opi…
Great to read this update from @jk_rowling A masterpiece, combining clarity of thought with deep compassion.
I wrote a new piece about women’s rights and whether or not I want trans people dead. (Spoiler: I don’t)👇
jkrowling.com/opinions/an-up…
stephen o'rahilly (its pronounced O-RA-hill-EEE) retweeted
ANNOUNCING THE 2026 WOLF PRIZE LAUREATES IN CHEMISTRY
The 2026 Wolf Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Pascal Mayer, Shankar Balasubramanian and David Klenerman for developing impactful, low-cost, next generation DNA sequencing methods for genomic medicine.
Their work helped transform DNA sequencing into a technology capable of operating at extraordinary speed and scale.
Balasubramanian and Klenerman pioneered a massively parallel sequencing approach that contributed to a million-fold improvement in sequencing speed and cost, helping make it possible to sequence a human genome for under $200.
Mayer played a pivotal role in turning those breakthroughs into a practical high-throughput sequencing system, integrating the chemistry, microfluidics, optics and computational components needed to make the technology work at scale.
Today, the sequencing platform that grew from this work forms the technological foundation for more than 90% of global sequencing data, powering major advances in genomics and precision medicine.
Congratulations to the 2026 Wolf Prize Laureates in Chemistry!
@Cambridge_Uni @universitedestrasbourg – at West University Place, TX
stephen o'rahilly (its pronounced O-RA-hill-EEE) retweeted
Brenda Power is a rare voice of moral clarity amongst the Irish commentariat on this issue. In under a minute she eviscerates Ireland’s hypocrisy.
‘There wasn’t a single peep of protest to the Irish cricket team voluntarily playing Afghanistan last month, where women are treated worse than battery chickens. It is the most extreme humanitarian crisis in the world right now, as far as I can see, the gender apartheid in Afghanistan. Not a word of protest.’
‘Where was your indignation when we played [Afghanistan]? England wouldn’t play them, South Africa wouldn’t play them, New Zealand wouldn’t play them. The great humanitarians in Ireland had absolutely no difficulty. We’re hypocrites.’
Nice to have been able to contribute to this lovely piece of work led by Stefan Johanssonn and Ken Ong. Some signals, like GLP1R , show up more clearly in children.
A childhood window into genetic variation linked to childhood adiposity @NatureGenet nature.com/articles/s41588-0…
stephen o'rahilly (its pronounced O-RA-hill-EEE) retweeted
This is a five alarm fire for medical research. By Jonathan Cohn, @BulwarkOnline Nice quote from me at the end. open.substack.com/pub/thebul…
Nick Wallis ( for those of you unaware he is the journalist who uncovered the post office scandal). Draws attention to some potentially very concerning practices in the Gender Service of Wales A full investigation appears overdue.
NEW: Wales' only adult gender clinic "potential Service of Concern" over high surgery referrals. Independent review two years overdue. Welsh Health minister involved. Referrals continue.
genderblog.net/welsh-gender-…
It must indeed, Jeff. Many of us who have worked in and admired @Cambridge_Uni for decades are aghast as the revelations unfold.
Cambridge University must carry out and make public a serious investigation of what appear to be extremely flawed processes of academic review. Hard to see how this could have happened. @Cambridge_Uni
stephen o'rahilly (its pronounced O-RA-hill-EEE) retweeted
Sex at birth is now a mandatory data item in the NHS core information standard standards.nhs.uk/published-s…
This is an important step forward for patient safety and care.
Authored by my dear friend and colleague Gordon Smith now Prof of Ob-Gyn at @Cambridge_Uni Sadly not on X.
Does the presence of males in female boxing increase safety risk?
I dunno, maybe we need a randomised controlled trial. (Time to cite my favourite paper ever)
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/article…
nature.com/articles/d41586-0… Encouraging to see this article from a senior figure at the @wellcometrust reminding us that the primary job of science is to discover what is true and useful and the dangers of replacing that with political posturing.
It is. And it is profoundly depressing that Hilary Cass, whose report did much good, appears to be blind to the horror of the abuse that has occurred in the case she chooses to illustrate why the pointless and damaging puberty blocker trial should go ahead.
stephen o'rahilly (its pronounced O-RA-hill-EEE) retweeted
Ultimately the conversion practices bill seeks to smuggle a new concept into criminal law of an undefined 'gender identity' that is defined nowhere else in law and which pulls against the emerging medical consensus that children and young people don't have fixed 'gender identities', their identities are in flux. And make it the basis of a criminal conduct statute that could result in their parents, medical professionals and others going to prison. It's an absolute dog's dinner of a bill, and its proponents should be ashamed of themselves.
It was a pleasure to contribute to this interesting discussion.
A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to today's discussions.
The day wrapped up with an excellent panel discussion, chaired by @MarcusDGon from @nyulangone on whether metabolic modulation is a viable option in cancer and where the biggest opportunities lie, as well as the complexities of modelling such a complex disease and the reality of then translating to and treating patients.
What a great first day! We’re looking forward to continuing the conversation tomorrow.
stephen o'rahilly (its pronounced O-RA-hill-EEE) retweeted
Appalling and shameful.
@UniofOxford must act to ensure these lectures can proceed.
Interesting. In theory at least MC3R agonism might help to preserve lean mass while weight loss is being driven through MC4R.
Preclinical studies support combined MC3R/MC4R agonism as a promising approach for next-generation obesity therapeutics #weightloss nature.com/articles/s41467-0…
