Lund University
The Epigenetics and Diabetes Unit at Lund University Diabetes Centre (LUDC), Sweden, has over the last two decades pioneered the field of epigenetics in type 2 diabetes. They have made numerous groundbreaking discoveries such as identification of genome-wide epigenetic modifications in pancreatic islets, skeletal muscle, adipose tissue and the liver from patients with type 2 diabetes compared with non-diabetic controls. The group has also shown that genetic and non-genetic factors such as SNPs, exercise, diet, obesity and age alter the genome-wide epigenetic pattern in key human tissues affecting type 2 diabetes. More recently, the group has identified blood-based epigenetic biomarkers that may be used for precision medicine.
People
Charlotte is a Professor at Lund University and a principle investigator of the Epigenetics and Diabetes Unit at Lund University Diabetes Centre (LUDC), Sweden. She obtained her PhD in Endocrinology at University of Gothenburg, Sweden in 2002. After a postdoc at Lund University, where she studied genetics of type 2 diabetes, she dedicated her research to the study of epigenetic mechanisms causing type 2 diabetes and metabolic disease. Her research group has over the last two decades pioneered the field of epigenetics in type 2 diabetes. They have made several groundbreaking discoveries such as genome-wide epigenetic modifications in pancreatic islets, skeletal muscle, adipose tissue and the liver from patients with type 2 diabetes compared with non-diabetic control subjects. Dr. Ling’s research group has also shown that genetic and non-genetic factors such as SNPs, exercise, diet, obesity and age alter the genome-wide epigenetic pattern in human primary tissues for type 2 diabetes. Dr. Ling is frequently invited to write review papers and book chapters and to give lectures (e.g. ADA, IDF, Keystone and Endocrine Society) on the topic ‘Epigenetics in Type 2 Diabetes’. She is still dissecting the impact of epigenetics in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. More recently, she is trying to translate her epigenetic findings to biomarkers and novel therapies for precision medicine to improve prediction, prevention and treatments of type 2 diabetes.
Alice Maguolo
Alice is a Ph.D. student in Clinical and Experimental Biomedical Sciences at the University of Verona and research fellow at the Epigenetics and Diabetes group at Lund University. She is a paediatrician with expertise in the prevention and treatment of paediatric obesity and metabolic disorders. Her research activity is focused on elucidating the nutritional and molecular basis of paediatric obesity and its complications, particularly insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus, integrating epidemiological, genetic, and epigenetic data.
Josefine Jönsson
Josefine is a Ph.D. student in the Epigenetics and Diabetes group at Lund University, Faculty of Medicine. She is investigating if dietary and lifestyle factors regulate DNA methylation and gene expression in human tissues and cells and whether this affects metabolism and risk for disease. She is involved in several studies and uses different materials and methods to address this, e.g., diet interventions, human cord blood, muscle tissue biopsies, sperm, arrays for analyzing DNA methylation and RNA expression, and whole genome bisulfite sequencing.
