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 Postdoctoral Researcher at Lund University with a Ph.D. in Clinical and Experimental Biomedical Sciences from the University of Verona.
She is a medical doctor and pediatrician with expertise in the prevention and treatment of pediatric obesity, diabetes, and metabolic disorders.
Her research focuses on elucidating the nutritional and molecular mechanisms underlying obesity and diabetes, with a strong emphasis on identifying early biomarkers of disease onset and complications by integrating epidemiological, genetic, and epigenetic data.
Karl is an Associate Professor in the Epigenetics and Diabetes Unit at Lund University Diabetes Centre. He is a cell biologist with a long-standing interest in the epigenetics of type 2 diabetes (T2D). His main focus is investigating the association between T2D, and T2D risk factors such as obesity and ageing, and DNA methylation/gene expression in human pancreatic islets, with the aim of revealing the molecular mechanisms behind the epigenetic regulation of islet cell (dys)function in health and disease.
