About the project
GLP-1 weight-loss drugs lower bone density and occasionally inflame the pancreas, but nobody knows whether the drug or the weight loss is responsible. Using micro-CT imaging of patient tissue alongside human stem-cell and organoid models, you will separate the two and uncover how the pancreas and skeleton communicate.
GLP-1 weight-loss drugs have changed medicine faster than almost any treatment in a generation. Millions of people are now taking them, including serving personnel in the UK Armed Forces. But two signals have appeared in the data, and nobody can yet explain either.
The first is bone. People on these drugs lose bone density, particularly at the hip and spine. Is that the drug itself, or simply the consequence of losing weight and putting less load through the skeleton? No study has been able to separate the two.
The second is the pancreas. These drugs act directly on the pancreas, and in rare cases cause inflammation. What sustained exposure does to pancreatic tissue over years, especially in people already carrying excess pancreatic fat, remains unclear.
These may turn out to be the same problem. There is growing evidence that the pancreas and bone communicate, and this project will test whether GLP-1 drugs disrupt this cross-talk.
You will work with micro-CT imaging of real patient pancreatic tissue, human stem-cell derived pancreatic models, and patient-derived organoids, then test whether signals released by drug-treated pancreatic tissue change how bone cells build and break down bone. The findings matter directly for Defence, where bone stress injury is a major cause of lost service days, and the people most likely to be prescribed these drugs are often those returning to heavy physical training.
