Obesity, gut hormones and knighthood

Interview by Rona Williamson Steve Bloom was born in Kent in 1942 and received his undergraduate medical training at Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK. His House Officer, Senior House Officer and Registrar posts were undertaken at The Middlesex Hospital where he also received an MRC Clinical Research training Fellowship. He moved to the Royal Postgraduate Medical School at Hammersmith Hospital as a Consultant Physician in 1974 where in due course he became Professor of Medicine. His roles have included Deputy Director of the Department of Medicine, Chairman of the Academic Board, Director of the Endocrinology Clinical Service and, Director of Chemical Pathology (renamed Metabolic Medicine and later Investigative Medicine), Chief of Service for Pathology and Chief of Service for Endocrinology and Diabetes. Having stepped down from his 10-year tenure as Head of Division of Investigative Science in 2007, Steve now holds a dual role within Imperial College London as Head of Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism and Chair of the academic Section of Investigative Medicine and also as Head of Clinical Chemistry at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. His research work over the years falls into five related categories: endocrinology clinical research, physiology and pathology of gut hormones, control of insulin release and insulin resistance, role of neuropeptides in organ control and the role of neuropeptides in CNS regulation of appetite and related hypothalamic functions. He currently leads a research group investigating hypothalamic appetite control systems and gut hormones. This group's discovery that oxyntomodulin reduces appetite offers a potential new treatment for obesity and in 2005 Steve cofounded spin out company 'Thiakis Ltd' to commercialize these findings. In 2008, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals successfully acquired Thiakis for a reported £100 million (milestoned). He has published over 1000 original papers (as well as numerous review articles) in journals such as Nature, J. Biol. Chem., PNAS, JCI and NEJM. In the past Steve has been a member of the Main Scientific Board for AstraZeneca and advisory boards for Upjohn and Novartis. In 2012, Professor Sir Steve Bloom was awarded a Knight Bachelor for Services to medical science.