Search Menu
The Rowett Institute

Dr George McIlroy

Dr George McIlroy
Dr George McIlroy
Dr George McIlroy

BSc (Hons) Genetics, PhD

Research Fellow

About
Email Address
g.mcilroy@abdn.ac.uk
Office Address
4.048 The Rowett Institute
Foresterhill Campus
Foresterhill
AB25 2ZD

View on Map

School/Department
School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition
Linkedin
ResearchGate
Pure
ORCiD

Biography

09/2021 - Present: Diabetes UK RD Lawrence Fellow, University of Aberdeen 

03/2019 - 06/2021: Diabetes UK Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Aberdeen

03/2018 - 03/2019: Wellcome Trust ISSF Research Fellow, University of Aberdeen

12/2014 - 03/2018: MRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Aberdeen

10/2010 - 12/2014: PhD, University of Aberdeen

09/2005 - 09/2009: BSc (Hons) Genetics, University of Glasgow

Gene therapy could offer new treatments for type 2 diabetes

Diabetes UK recently highlighted the potential of our latest findings to identify new treatments for type 2 diabetes. 

Click to read

Qualifications

  • PhD Integrative Physiology 
    2014 - University of Aberdeen 
  • BSc Genetics (Hons) 
    2009 - University of Glasgow 

Memberships and Affiliations

Internal Memberships

BSU Team Committee Member (2019 - Present, Academic representative)

External Memberships

Diabetes UK (2015 - Present, Professional Member)

American Society of Gene + Cell Therapy (2022 - Present, Transitional Member)

 

Latest Publications

View My Publications

Research

Research Overview

I am interested in the development and function of adipose tissue (body fat). In conditions such as obesity, adipose tissue becomes dysfunctional and no longer safely stores dietary fats. This can lead to severe metabolic complications such as diabetes, fatty liver, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.

Some people are unable to make adipose tissue. These rare disorders are known as lipodystrophies. Here, the lack of body fat and inability to safely store dietary fats causes similar metabolic complications to those observed in obesity. For more information on lipodystrophies, visit the Lipodystrophy UK website, the UK’s only charity dedicated to supporting people affected by Lipodystrophy, which is a rare and life threatening disease affecting approximately 1 in 1 million people across the world. 

My current research utilises mouse models of lipodystrophy to investigate this disorder. My aim is to discover novel therapeutic treatment strategies for patients suffering from lipodystrophy. However, rare disorders such as lipodystrophy can also be used to identify new treatments for more common forms of type 2 diabetes often observed in conditions of obesity.

IMG_0268-Enhanced-NR.jpg    

Research Areas

Biomedical Sciences

View Research Area

Nutrition and Health

View Research Area

Research Specialisms

  • Biological Sciences
  • Molecular Biology
  • Animal Physiology
  • Endocrinology
  • Diabetes

Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

Investigating gene therapy as a treatment for lipodystrophy

Our latest manuscript has been published in Molecular Therapy - Methods & Clinical Devlopment. We reveal that gene therapy offers great potential as a therapeutic strategy to correct multiple metabolic complications in patients with lipodystrophy.

Click to read our manuscript

Knowledge Exchange

Kemnay Academy Advanced Higher Biology/Science Baccalaureate Visit (01/02/2023) 

PCR practical and Scientific Poster workshop

ScientificPoster.jpg         PCRPractical.jpg

Pint of Science Invited speaker (21/05/2019)

Aberdeen, Scotland

Cell Block Science Interactive stall (24/10/2018)

HMP Grampian

Explorathon Interactive stall (28/09/2018)

Aberdeen Science Centre

Supervision

Ms Mansi Tiwari joined the Mcilroy lab in October 2022 to commence her PhD. Here she will combine gene therapy and cutting edge multiomic next generation sequencing analysis at single cell resolution to identify novel treatments for type 2 diabetes.

MansiTiwari.jpg

Supervisees

  • MS MANSI TIWARI

Funding and Grants

Diabetes UK RD Lawrence Fellowship 2021 (£495,283, PI)

Exploiting gene therapy to discover treatments for type 2 diabetes

Wellcome Trust ISSF Seed Corn Fund 2020 (£17,469, Co-I)

Developing viral therapeutics for the treatment of severe diabetes and metabolic disease in lipodystrophy.

10X Genomics/illumina core facility grant @ CGEBM 2019 (~£10,000, PI)

Adipose tissue chromatin profiling in generalised lipodystrophy at single cell resolution

EFSD/Lilly Young Investigator Research Award 2019 (€50,000, PI)

Identifying Novel Therapies to Prevent Diabetes in Congenital Lipodystrophy.

Wellcome Trust ISSF Fellowship Support Award 2018 (£60,000, PI)

Does Bscl2 disruption in the liver contribute to metabolic dysfunction in lipodystrophy?

Teaching

Teaching Responsibilities

MSc Human Nutrition - Molecular Nutrition (RN5502)

Molecular Biology of Lipodystrophy

 

MSc Diabetes and Metabolism (BM5502)

Sleeve gastrectomy data analysis tutorial

Publications

Page 2 of 2 Results 11 to 19 of 19

  • Fenretinide mediated retinoic acid receptor signalling and inhibition of ceramide biosynthesis regulates adipogenesis, lipid accumulation, mitochondrial function and nutrient stress signalling in adipocytes and adipose tissue

    McIlroy, G., Tammireddy, S. R., Maskrey, B. H., Grant, L., Doherty, M. K., Watson, D. G., Delibegovic, M., Whitfield, P. D., Mody, N.
    Biochemical Pharmacology, vol. 100, pp. 86-97
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Fenretinide prevents obesity in aged female mice in association with increased retinoid and estrogen-signaling

    Shearer, K. D., Morrice, N., Henderson, C., Reekie, J., McIlroy, G., McCaffery, P. J., Delibegovic, M., Mody, N.
    Obesity, vol. 23, no. 8, pp. 1655-1662
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Mechanisms of improved glucose homeostasis by the synthetic retinoid fenretinide: altered genes, metabolites and lipids

    Mody, N., McIlroy, G. D., Morrice, N., Delibegovic, M.
    Diabetic Medicine, vol. 32, no. S1, pp. 47-48
    Contributions to Journals: Abstracts

  • The mechanisms of Fenretinide-mediated anti-cancer activity and prevention of obesity and type-2 diabetes

    Mody, N., McIlroy, G. D.
    Biochemical Pharmacology, vol. 91, no. 3, pp. 277-286
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Fenretinide Treatment Prevents Diet-Induced Obesity in Association With Major Alterations in Retinoid Homeostatic Gene Expression in Adipose, Liver and Hypothalamus

    McIlroy, G. D., Delibegovic, M., Owen, C., Stoney, P. N., Shearer, K. D., McCaffery, P. J., Mody, N.
    Diabetes, vol. 62, no. 3, pp. 825-836
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Adipocyte-specific protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B deletion increases lipogenesis, adipocyte cell size and is a minor regulator of glucose homeostasis

    Owen, C., Czopek, A., Agouni, A., Grant, L., Judson, R., Lees, E. K., McIlroy, G., Göransson, O., Welch, A., Bence, K. K., Kahn, B. B., Neel, B. G., Mody, N., Delibegovic, M.
    PloS ONE, vol. 7, no. 2, e32700
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Susceptibility to diet-induced obesity and glucose intolerance in the APP (SWE)/PSEN1 (A246E) mouse model of Alzheimer's disease is associated with increased brain levels of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) and retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4), and basal phosphorylation of S6 ribosomal protein

    Mody, N., Agouni, A., McIlroy, G., Platt, B., Delibegovic, M.
    Diabetologia, vol. 54, no. 8, pp. 2143-2151
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Expression of the yeast NADH dehydrogenase Ndi1 in Drosophila confers increased lifespan independently of dietary restriction

    Sanz, A., Soikkeli, M., Portero-Otin, M., Wilson, A., Kemppainen, E., McIlroy, G., Ellila, S., Kemppainen, K. K., Tuomela, T., Lakanmaa, M., Kiviranta, E., Stefanatos, R., Dufour, E., Hutz, B., Naudi, A., Jove, M., Zeb, A., Vartiainen, S., Matsuno-Yagi, A., Yagi, T., Rustin, P., Pamplona, R., Jacobs, H. T.
    PNAS, vol. 107, no. 20, pp. 9105-9110
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Production of reactive oxygen species by the mitochondrial electron transport chain in Drosophila melanogaster

    Sanz, A., Stefanatos, R., McIlroy, G.
    Journal of bioenergetics and biomembranes, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 135-142
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
Show 10 | 25 | 50 | 100 results per page
Update