At META-IMAGEOMICS research laboratory, we investigate human metabolism by integrating advanced medical imaging with deep molecular and physiological phenotyping using multiomics. Our research focuses on understanding how different tissues, particularly brown and white adipose tissue, regulate energy balance, insulin sensitivity, and susceptibility to metabolic disease.
We combine state-of-the-art imaging technologies with comprehensive multi-omics and metabolic assessments to capture a 360° view of human physiology. By uniting imaging with mechanistic and translational approaches, we aim to uncover actionable biomarkers and pathways that can guide new strategies for preventing and treating obesity, type 2 diabetes, and related cardiometabolic disorders.
Our Approach
To examine metabolism at multiple levels — whole-body, tissue, cellular, and molecular — we utilise a powerful toolkit that includes:
• PET imaging to quantify tissue-specific metabolism, substrate use, and receptor function
• CT scanning for anatomical assessments and tissue composition
• MRI for structural, functional, and metabolic imaging
• Metabolomics, proteomics, transcriptomics and lipidomics for systemic biochemical profiling
• Continuous glucose monitoring to capture real-time glycaemic dynamics
• Blood samples for hormones, metabolites, cytokines, and molecular markers
• Gut microbiome profiling to explore host–microbe metabolic interactions
• Hormone measurements to assess endocrine regulation of energy balance
• Indirect calorimetry for whole-body energy expenditure and substrate oxidation
• Hyperinsulinaemic–euglycaemic clamps to quantify insulin sensitivity and metabolic flexibility
• Pharmacological and Nutraceutical interventions to test metabolic pathways in vivo
• Behavioural interventions (diet, cold exposure) to study adaptable metabolic responses
Research Vision
We aim to transform medical imaging from a diagnostic tool into a mechanistic engine for understanding human physiology. By combining total-body imaging with omics technologies, dynamic metabolic measurements, and targeted interventions, our research seeks to:
• decode tissue-specific metabolic processes in vivo,
• map inter-organ metabolic networks,
• identify early markers of metabolic dysfunction,
• and discover targets that improve metabolic health.
Our ultimate goal is to advance translational metabolism — turning mechanistic discoveries into meaningful clinical insights for the prevention and treatment of metabolic disease.