Stephen O'Rahilly

{{Short description|Irish-British physician and scientist (born 1958)}}

{{Infobox scientist

| honorific_prefix = Professor

| name = Sir Stephen O'Rahilly

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS|FRCP|FRCPI|FRCPath|FMedSci|FRSB|MRIA|size=100%}}

| image = Professor Sir Stephen O'Rahilly.jpg

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1958|4|1}}{{Who's Who | title=O'RAHILLY, Prof. Stephen | id = U28931 | volume = 2015 | edition = online Oxford University Press}}

| birth_place = Dublin, Ireland

| citizenship = Ireland
United Kingdom

| alma_mater = University College Dublin (MB, BCh, BAO, MD)

| spouse = {{marriage|Suzy Oakes|1990|2011|end=d}}

| awards = {{ubl|FMedSci (1999)|Heinrich Wieland Prize (2002)|FRS (2003)|InBev-Baillet Latour Health Prize (2010)|Croonian Medal (2011, 2022)|Baly Medal (2013)|Knighthood (2013)|Debrecen Award for Molecular Medicine (2014)|Banting Medal (2019)}}

| field = Bariatrics

| work_institutions = {{ubl||University of Cambridge|Pembroke College, Cambridge|University of Oxford|Harvard Medical School|University College Dublin|Addenbrooke's Hospital|St Bartholomew's Hospital|Sanger Institute|Hammersmith Hospital}}

| website = {{URL|www.mrl.ims.cam.ac.uk/research/principal-investigators/professor-sir-stephen-orahilly}}

}}

Sir Stephen Patrick O'Rahilly (born 1 April 1958) is an Irish-British physician and scientist known for his research into the molecular pathogenesis of human obesity, insulin resistance and related metabolic and endocrine disorders.{{Cite journal | last1 = Neill | first1 = U. S. | title = A conversation with Stephen O'Rahilly | doi = 10.1172/JCI70726 | journal = Journal of Clinical Investigation | volume = 123 | issue = 6 | pages = 2335–2336 | year = 2013 | pmid = 23722908| pmc =3668822 }}{{Cite journal | last1 = Weston | first1 = K. | title = Translating metabolic biochemistry into the clinic: An interview with Steve O'Rahilly | doi = 10.1242/dmm.007641 | pmid = 21357759 | pmc = 3046085 | journal = Disease Models & Mechanisms | volume = 4 | issue = 2 | pages = 141–144 | year = 2011 }}{{Cite journal

| last1 = Gerken | first1 = T.

| last2 = Girard | first2 = C. A.

| last3 = Tung | first3 = Y. -C. L.

| last4 = Webby | first4 = C. J.

| last5 = Saudek | first5 = V.

| last6 = Hewitson | first6 = K. S.

| last7 = Yeo | first7 = G. S. H.

| last8 = McDonough | first8 = M. A.

| last9 = Cunliffe | first9 = S.

| last10 = McNeill

| doi = 10.1126/science.1151710 | first10 = L. A.

| last11 = Galvanovskis | first11 = J.

| last12 = Rorsman | first12 = P.

| authorlink12 = Patrik Rorsman

| last13 = Robins | first13 = P.

| last14 = Prieur | first14 = X.

| last15 = Coll | first15 = A. P.

| last16 = Ma | first16 = M.

| last17 = Jovanovic | first17 = Z.

| last18 = Farooqi | first18 = I. S. | authorlink18 = Sadaf Farooqi

| last19 = Sedgwick | first19 = B.

| last20 = Barroso | first20 = I.

| last21 = Lindahl | first21 = T.

| authorlink21 = Tomas Lindahl

| last22 = Ponting | first22 = C. P.

| authorlink22 = Chris Ponting

| last23 = Ashcroft | first23 = F. M.

| authorlink23 = Frances Ashcroft

| last24 = O'Rahilly | first24 = S.

| authorlink24 = Stephen O'Rahilly

| last25 = Schofield | first25 = C. J.

| authorlink25 = Christopher J. Schofield

| title = The Obesity-Associated FTO Gene Encodes a 2-Oxoglutarate-Dependent Nucleic Acid Demethylase

| journal = Science

| volume = 318

| issue = 5855

| pages = 1469–1472

| year = 2007

| pmid = 17991826

| pmc =2668859

| bibcode = 2007Sci...318.1469G

}}{{Scopus|id=7101607650}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1038/43185| pmid = 9202122| bibcode = 1997Natur.387..903M| year = 1997| journal = Nature| volume = 387| issue = 6636| pages = 903–8| last2 = Montague | first2 = C. T. | last3 = Farooqi | first3 = I. S. |authorlink3=Sadaf Farooqi| last4 = Whitehead | first4 = J. P. | last5 = Soos | first5 = M. A. | last6 = Rau | first6 = H. | last7 = Wareham | first7 = N. J. | last8 = Sewter | first8 = C. P. | last9 = Digby | first9 = J. E. | last10 = Mohammed | first10 = S. N. | last11 = Hurst | first11 = J. A. | last12 = Cheetham | first12 = C. H. | last13 = Earley | first13 = A. R. | last14 = Barnett | first14 = A. H. | last15 = Prins | first15 = J. B. | last1 = Oʼrahilly| first1 = Stephen| title = Congenital leptin deficiency is associated with severe early-onset obesity in humans| s2cid = 205032762| doi-access = free }}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1056/NEJMoa035322| title = TheGPR54Gene as a Regulator of Puberty| journal = New England Journal of Medicine| volume = 349| issue = 17| pages = 1614–27| year = 2003| last1 = Seminara | first1 = S. B. | last2 = Messager | first2 = S. | last3 = Chatzidaki | first3 = E. E. | last4 = Thresher | first4 = R. R. | last5 = Acierno | first5 = J. S. | last6 = Shagoury | first6 = J. K. | last7 = Bo-Abbas | first7 = Y. | last8 = Kuohung | first8 = W. | last9 = Schwinof | first9 = K. M. | last10 = Hendrick | first10 = A. G. | last11 = Zahn | first11 = D. | last12 = Dixon | first12 = J. | last13 = Kaiser | first13 = U. B. | last14 = Slaugenhaupt | first14 = S. A. | last15 = Gusella | first15 = J. F. | last16 = O'Rahilly | first16 = S. | last17 = Carlton | first17 = M. B. L. | last18 = Crowley | first18 = W. F. | last19 = Aparicio | first19 = S. A. J. R. | last20 = Colledge | first20 = W. H. | pmid=14573733| doi-access = free }}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1056/NEJM199909163411204| title = Effects of Recombinant Leptin Therapy in a Child with Congenital Leptin Deficiency| journal = New England Journal of Medicine| volume = 341| issue = 12| pages = 879–84| year = 1999| last1 = Farooqi | first1 = I. S | authorlink1=Sadaf Farooqi | last2 = Jebb | first2 = S. A. | last3 = Langmack | first3 = G. | last4 = Lawrence | first4 = E. | last5 = Cheetham | first5 = C. H. | last6 = Prentice | first6 = A. M. | last7 = Hughes | first7 = I. A. | last8 = McCamish | first8 = M. A. | last9 = O'Rahilly | first9 = S. | pmid=10486419

| doi-access = free }}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1408523111| title = Mutations disrupting the Kennedy phosphatidylcholine pathway in humans with congenital lipodystrophy and fatty liver disease| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences| volume = 111| issue = 24| pages = 8901–8906| year = 2014| last1 = Payne | first1 = F.| last2 = Lim | first2 = K.| last3 = Girousse | first3 = A.| last4 = Brown | first4 = R. J.| last5 = Kory | first5 = N.| last6 = Robbins | first6 = A.| last7 = Xue | first7 = Y.| last8 = Sleigh | first8 = A.| last9 = Cochran | first9 = E.| last10 = Adams | first10 = C.| last11 = Dev Borman | first11 = A.| last12 = Russel-Jones | first12 = D.| last13 = Gorden | first13 = P.| last14 = Semple | first14 = R. K.| last15 = Saudek | first15 = V.| last16 = O'Rahilly | first16 = S.| last17 = Walther | first17 = T. C.| last18 = Barroso | first18 = I.| last19 = Savage | first19 = D. B. | pmid=24889630 | pmc=4066527| bibcode = 2014PNAS..111.8901P| doi-access = free}}{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413082922/http://www.clbc.cam.ac.uk/SOR/orahilly.html|archivedate=2014-04-13|publisher=University of Cambridge|title=Professor Steve O'Rahilly, Head of Department and Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Medicine|url=http://www.clbc.cam.ac.uk/SOR/orahilly.html}}

Early life and education

O'Rahilly was born on 1 April 1958 in Dublin, Ireland.Ellen Ruppel Shell, [http://discovermagazine.com/2000/may/featfat Fat Genes], Discover Magazine, 1 May 2000{{cite web |title=O'Rahilly, Sir Stephen (Patrick), (born 1 April 1958), Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Medicine (formerly Professor of Metabolic Medicine), Departments of Medicine and Clinical Biochemistry, since 1996, Head, Clinical Biochemistry Department, since 2002, and Director, Institute of Metabolic Science, Metabolic Research Laboratories, since 2007, University of Cambridge; Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, since 2007; Hon. Consultant Physician, Addenbrooke's Hospital, since 1994; Director, MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit (formerly MRC Centre for Obesity and Related Metabolic Diseases), since 2007; Scientific Director, NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, since 2010 |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U28931 |website=Who's Who 2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=9 August 2023 |language=en |date=1 December 2022}} He was educated at Beneavin De La Salle College in Finglas, Dublin. He studied medicine at University College Dublin, graduating in 1981 with Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, Bachelor of Obstetrics (MB BCh BAO) degrees. He later continued his studies and completed a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree in 1987.

Research

O'Rahilly undertook research into Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance at the University of Oxford and Harvard Medical School, before joining the University of Cambridge where he is a Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Medicine, Director of the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science-Metabolic Research Laboratories,{{cite web|url=http://www.mrl.ims.cam.ac.uk/staff/hod|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140614184726/http://www.mrl.ims.cam.ac.uk/staff/hod|title=Stephen O'Rahilly, University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories|archivedate=2014-06-14}} Director of the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit and co-director of the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science. He is also the scientific Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Associate Faculty at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and honorary consultant physician at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge.{{cite web|url=http://www.cambridge-brc.org.uk/nihr-cambridge-biomedical-research-centre|title=NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre Web Site}}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{Cite journal

|pmid = 23712428|pmc = 3674708|year = 2013|last1 = Roberts|first1 = E. W.|title = Depletion of stromal cells expressing fibroblast activation protein-α from skeletal muscle and bone marrow results in cachexia and anemia|journal = Journal of Experimental Medicine|volume = 210|issue = 6|pages = 1137–51|last2 = Deonarine|first2 = A|last3 = Jones|first3 = J. O.|last4 = Denton|first4 = A. E.|last5 = Feig|first5 = C|last6 = Lyons|first6 = S. K.|last7 = Espeli|first7 = M|last8 = Kraman|first8 = M|last9 = McKenna|first9 = B|last10 = Wells|first10 = R. J.|last11 = Zhao|first11 = Q|last12 = Caballero|first12 = O. L.|last13 = Larder|first13 = R|last14 = Coll|first14 = A. P.|last15 = O'Rahilly|first15 = S|authorlink15 = Stephen O'Rahilly|last16 = Brindle|first16 = K. M.|author16-link = Kevin Brindle|last17 = Teichmann|first17 = S. A.|authorlink17 = Sarah Teichmann|last18 = Tuveson|first18 = D. A.|last19 = Fearon|first19 = D. T.|authorlink19 = Douglas Fearon|doi = 10.1084/jem.20122344}}{{Open access}}{{Cite journal

| pmid = 18454148

| pmc = 2669167

| year = 2008

| last1 = Loos

| first1 = R. J.

| title = Common variants near MC4R are associated with fat mass, weight and risk of obesity

| journal = Nature Genetics

| volume = 40

| issue = 6

| pages = 768–75

| last2 = Lindgren

| first2 = C. M.

| last3 = Li

| first3 = S

| last4 = Wheeler

| first4 = E

| last5 = Zhao

| first5 = J. H.

| last6 = Prokopenko

| first6 = I

| last7 = Inouye

| first7 = M

| last8 = Freathy

| first8 = R. M.

| last9 = Attwood

| first9 = A. P.

| last10 = Beckmann

| first10 = J. S.

| last11 = Berndt

| first11 = S. I.

| last12 = Prostate

| first12 = Lung

| last13 = Jacobs

| first13 = K. B.

| last14 = Chanock

| first14 = S. J.

| last15 = Hayes

| first15 = R. B.

| last16 = Bergmann

| first16 = S

| last17 = Bennett

| first17 = A. J.

| last18 = Bingham

| first18 = S. A.

| last19 = Bochud

| first19 = M

| last20 = Brown

| first20 = M

| last21 = Cauchi

| first21 = S

| last22 = Connell

| first22 = J. M.

| last23 = Cooper

| first23 = C

| last24 = Smith

| first24 = G. D.

| last25 = Day

| first25 = I

| last26 = Dina

| first26 = C

| last27 = De

| first27 = S

| last28 = Dermitzakis

| first28 = E. T.

| last29 = Doney

| first29 = A. S.

| last30 = Elliott

| first30 = K. S.

| display-authors = 29

| doi = 10.1038/ng.140

}} He is a professorial fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge.

Notable Cambridge scientists with whom O'Rahilly has shared paper authorship include Krishna Chatterjee, David Dunger, Sadaf Farooqi, Nita Forouhi, Antonio Vidal-Puig, Nick Wareham, and Giles Yeo.

Awards and honours

O'Rahilly was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1999, the Royal Society in 2003. His nomination reads: {{centred pull quote|Stephen O'Rahilly has made major contributions to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying human disorders of energy balance and metabolism. His work first established that mutations in single genes could result in severe human obesity and that these defects largely acted through disruption of central satiety mechanisms. These findings have altered clinical approaches to the evaluation of the obese child and have identified a subtype of obesity amenable to dramatically effective therapy. His studies of patients with extreme insensitivity to insulin have also provided new insights into human insulin action and its disruption in states of insulin resistance.{{cite web |url=https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo==%27EC%2F2003%2F27%27) |title=EC/2003/27: O'Rahilly, Stephen Patrick |publisher=The Royal Society |archive-date=13 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713162837/https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo==%27EC%2F2003%2F27%27) |location=London |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}}}

He was awarded the Heinrich Wieland Prize[http://www.heinrich-wieland-preis.de/index/getnews/id/7 Heinrich Wieland Prize] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112171407/http://www.heinrich-wieland-preis.de/index/getnews/id/7 |date=12 November 2013 }} in 2002, the InBev-Baillet Latour Health Prize in 2010{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1242/dmm.006080

| title = Professor Stephen O'Rahilly wins the 2010 InBev-Baillet Latour Prize

| journal = Disease Models & Mechanisms

| volume = 3

| issue = 7–8

| pages = 402

| year = 2010

| pmid = 20610691

| doi-access = free

}} and the Debrecen Award for Molecular Medicine in 2014.{{cite web|url=http://deoec.hu/info.aspx?sp=82&web_id= |title=Debrecen Award for Molecular Medicine |publisher=University of Debrecen |access-date=2015-01-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213044251/http://www.deoec.hu/info.aspx?sp=82&web_id= |archive-date=2014-12-13 }} He delivered the 2016 Harveian Oration{{cite web|title=Harveian Oration and dinner 2016|url=https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/events/harveian-oration-and-dinner-2016|website=Royal College of Physician|date=27 June 2016 |accessdate=2016-11-28}} at the Royal College of Physicians of London.

O'Rahilly was knighted in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to medical research.{{London Gazette|issue=60534|supp=y|page=1|date=15 June 2013}}[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22905680 Stephen O'Rahilly knighted], BBC News, 14 June 2013

In 2017, he became a member of the Royal Irish Academy.{{cite web|url=https://www.ria.ie/news/membership/18-new-members-royal-irish-academy |title=18 New Members of the Royal Irish Academy |work=Royal Irish Academy |date=26 May 2017 |access-date=27 Nov 2021}} In 2018, he was made an Honorary Doctor of RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dublin.{{cite news|url=https://www.rcsi.com/dublin/news-and-events/news/news-article/2018/11/rcsi-celebrates-graduation-of-900-healthcare-and-research-professionals|title=RCSI celebrates graduation of 900 healthcare and research professionals|publisher=Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland|date=15 November 2018}}

In 2019, O'Rahilly was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (LSW).[https://www.learnedsociety.wales/fellow/stephen-orahilly LSW Honorary Fellows] The Learned Society of Wales, 20 May 2019 He was also awarded the Banting Medal for his contributions towards diabetes research by the American Diabetes Association in the same year.[https://professional.diabetes.org/content-page/2019-banting-medal-scientific-achievement-stephen-orahilly-md 2019 Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement - Stephen O'Rahilly, MD], ADA Diabetes Pro, 20 May 2019

O'Rahilly was awarded the Croonian Medal in 2011 by the Royal College of Physicians. He was awarded it again, by the Royal Society in 2022, this time jointly with Sadaf Farooqi and they presented their lecture[https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/awards/croonian-lecture Croonian Medal and Lecture] The Royal Society, 14 April 2022 at the Royal Society in 2022.

In 2023, O'Rahilly was awarded the OU Health Harold Hamm International Prize for Biomedical Research in Diabetes for his outstanding research into the link between obesity and Type 2 diabetes.{{Cite web |last=McIntosh |first=Kate |date=2023-06-07 |title=2023 OU Health Harold Hamm International Prize for Biomedical Research in Diabetes |url=https://www.staff.admin.cam.ac.uk/awards/2023-ou-health-harold-hamm-international-prize-for-biomedical-research-in-diabetes |access-date=2024-01-09 |website=For staff |language=en}}

Personal life

O’Rahilly lives in Cambridge, England with his wife, journalist Philippa Lamb, and his stepson Felix Lamb. He was married to Suzy Oakes from 1990 until her death in 2011.

He holds dual Irish and British citizenship.{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/irish-research-scientist-to-be-knighted-by-queen-elizabeth-1.1430364|title=Irish research scientist to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=15 June 2013|first=Dan|last=Keenan}}