Nicholas Wareham

Professor Nicholas Wareham is the Director of the MRC Epidemiology Unit, Co-Director of the Institute of Metabolic Science, Honorary Consultant at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Cambridge, England. He studied Medicine at St Thomas’ Hospital Medical School and Epidemiology at both the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Cambridge University, England. After research fellowships at Harvard and Cambridge University, he took up the Directorship of the MRC Epidemiology Unit when it was founded in 2003. His principal research interests are in understanding the aetiology of type 2 diabetes and in developing strategies for prevention and early detection. These preventive approaches include individual and societal level interventions and he is the Director of the UKCRC Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR).

Current work and interests
Dr. Wareham undertakes research into the aetiological determinants of diabetes, obesity and related metabolic disorders, and the translation of that epidemiological understanding into preventive action. He is a Principal Investigator on the EPIC-Norfolk study and leads the working group for diabetes, obesity and physical activity in EPIC-Europe study. He is the co-ordinator of the InterAct EU FP6 funded project, which aims to investigate how genes and lifestyle factors interact to lead to type 2 diabetes. He has a programme of research into the genetic basis of obesity and type 2 diabetes as part of the Genetics of Energy Metabolism (GEM) consortium. His work on gene-environment interaction is based on quantitative trait studies and large scale population-based cohort studies. A key element of this work is the accurate measurement of lifestyle exposures including physical activity and he has developed and evaluated novel methods for measuring energy expenditure in free-living individuals in population-based studies. He is co-lead of the ADDITION study, a trial of screening for diabetes and intensive cardiovascular risk reduction undertaken in 3 European countries.