The Department of Metabolism & Systems Science brings together interdisciplinary world experts under the collective mission of innovating systems science in metabolism, maternal health and endocrinology – with the end-goal of improving health and wellbeing globally.
We research the body as a living system comprised of interacting elements that form a unified whole organized for a shared purpose – that is, to help the body to thrive, survive and procreate. We also mirror this in our Department's own work ethic – by nurturing a vibrant and diverse academic community that upholds rigorous research and teaching standards for our shared mission of contributing healthcare advances to society through science.
The Department's research is highly societally relevant as it touches on topics which directly impact people’s everyday lives. The interplay between hormones and cell or organ systems influence everything from digestion and pregnancy through to ageing and serious health conditions like endocrine cancer and obesity – and far more beyond this. These are healthcare matters which will affect virtually every one of us and our loved ones at some point in our lives.
The Department of Metabolism and Systems Science's mission is therefore to extend understanding of these ‘system connections’ to better harness and move forward exciting discoveries in our labs into safe and impactful real world applications and evidence-based teaching. Our goal is to translate exploratory and needs-driven science into new clinical practice, medical technologies and therapeutic interventions which keep sight of patient, healthcare professional and industry priorities.
Interdisciplinarity is not just a buzzword in our Department. We fully understand that the health challenges of now and the future will require a collaborative and multi-faceted approach involving the expertise of many progressive thinkers and innovators. Department of Metabolism and Systems Science researchers therefore include biologists, biochemists, clinician scientists, computational scientists, mathematicians, physicists and more, all working together. This shared endeavour enables integrated learning and teaching opportunities and best practice to flourish more readily in the study, prevention and treatment of life-altering conditions. We also work closely with colleagues within the NHS (including the University Hospitals Birmingham and the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) and other leading international partners across industry, research and healthcare.
Since its creation in 2015, the Department and its researchers have held more than £60 million of vital research funding. We thank each and every one of our research funders for their support and continued advocacy for research.
Finally, the Department is also committed to public and patient engagement and involvement. Much of our research is directly patient-centred and we value patient and lived experience voices. You can explore our Public Engagement further on our page and blog site.