Giles Yeo is an American-British biologist. He is the professor of molecular

neuroendocrinology Neuroendocrinology is the branch of biology (specifically of physiology) which studies the interaction between the nervous system and the endocrine system; i.e. how the brain regulates the hormonal activity in the body. The nervous and endocrine ...

at the Medical Research Council Metabolic Diseases Unit and scientific director of the Genomics/Transcriptomics Core at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Early life and education

Giles Yeo was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and previously lived in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and since 1994 has been based in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In 1994 he graduated from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

(Molecular and Cell Biology) and in 1997 he completed a PhD study at

(

Molecular genetics Molecular genetics is a branch of biology that addresses how differences in the structures or expression of DNA molecules manifests as variation among organisms. Molecular genetics often applies an "investigative approach" to determine the st ...

). His focus is on the study of

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...

, brain control of body weight, and genetic influences on appetitive behaviour.

Career

Media

He has presented three BBC ''Horizon'' documentaries: ''Why Are We Getting So Fat?'' (2016), ''Clean Eating: The Dirty Truth'' (2017) and ''Vitamin Pills: Miracle or Myth?'' (2018). Giles was also a presenter on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

's '' Trust Me, I'm A Doctor''. His first book, ''Gene Eating: The Story Of Human Appetite'' was published in December 2018. His second book, ''Why Calories Don't Count'', was published in June 2021. Giles also presented ''Plant Based Promises'', a three-part

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

programme in JuneJuly 2022. He also hosts the podcast ''Dr Giles Yeo Chews The Fat''.

Academic positions

Yeo has held the following posts at the

: *from December 1998: Research Associate at Cambridge Institute for Medical Research *from December 2007: Scientific Director of Genomics/Transcriptomics at Institute for Metabolic Science *from September 2009: Graduate Tutor at

Wolfson College, Cambridge Wolfson College () is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The majority of students at the college are postgraduates. The college also admits "mature" undergraduates (aged 21 and above), with around ...

*from September 2014: Principal Research Associate at MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit *from August 2022: Professor of Molecular Neuroendocrinology at MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit

Honours and public appearances

In November 2019 Giles was the winner of the centenary year

The Genetics Society The Genetics Society is a British learned society. It was founded by William Bateson and Edith Rebecca Saunders in 1919 and celebrated its centenary year in 2019. It is therefore one of the oldest learned societies devoted to genetics. Its membe ...

JBS Haldane Lecture, which ‘recognises an individual for outstanding ability to communicate topical subjects in genetics research, widely interpreted, to an interested lay audience’. His Haldane Lecture was entitled 'Is Obesity A Choice', and was given at

The Royal Institution The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...

in London on November 27, 2019. In October 2020 he was awarded an MBE in the Queen's 2020 Birthday Honours for services to 'Research, Communication and Engagement'. In January 2021 he was a guest on the

programme ''

The Life Scientific ''The Life Scientific'' is a BBC Radio 4 science programme, presented by Jim Al-Khalili, in which each episode is dedicated to the biography and work of a living scientist. The programme consists of an interview between Al-Khalili and the featur ...

''. He was awarded The Society for Endocrinology medal in 2022. Dr Giles Yeo has been the honorary president of the British Dietetic Association since 2019. In 2023, Dr Yeo became the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board o
Rio Life
a UK-based metabolic health start-up.

References