Professor Waljit S Dhillo

Professor Waljit Dhillo is a Professor in Endocrinology & Metabolism and Consultant Endocrinologist. He completed his medical training at St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical School, University of London in 1994. During this time he also completed an Intercalated BSc in Biochemistry (awarded First Class Honours) funded by the Medical Research Council. He then completed his general medical training in London Hospitals. In 1997 he joined the North West Thames Rotation in Diabetes and Endocrinology as a Specialist Registrar. During this time he completed a PhD on the area of novel neuropeptides regulating appetite as a Wellcome Trust Clinical Training Fellow at Imperial College with Professor Steve Bloom. He was then awarded a National Institute for Heath Research (NIHR) Clinician Scientist Fellowship and appointed as a Clinical Senior Lecturer (Imperial College London) and Consultant in Diabetes and Endocrinology (Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust). Dr Dhillo has recently been awarded a HEFCE Clinical Senior Lecturer Award followed by a NIHR Career Development Fellowship. In 2009 he was promoted to Reader and in 2011 promoted to Professor in Endocrinology & Metabolism .

Professor Dhillo’s research investigates novel aspects of endocrine control of obesity and reproductive function.

His research has focused on understanding the hypothalamic mechanisms which are important in the regulation of food intake. He was awarded the Royal College of Physicians Linacre Medal for this work. These findings have identified the role of novel hypothalamic factors which regulate appetite and identified novel targets and pathways for the development of anti-obesity drugs.

Professor Dhillo’s recent translational research has identified the novel hormone kisspeptin as a potential novel therapy for infertility. Professor Dhillo has carried out the ‘first time into human’ studies of kisspeptin. He has shown that kisspeptin potently stimulates reproductive hormone release in human male and female volunteers. This work was awarded the American Endocrine Society Award for Excellence in Clinical Research and the British Society for Neuroscience Young Investigator Prize. Recently Professor Dhillo showed that kisspeptin administration potently increased reproductive hormone release in women with infertility due to hypothalamic amenorrhea and this work received widespread media interest (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7945600.stm; http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/04/2009_11_tue.shtml). He was awarded the Royal College of Physicians Goulstonian Lectureship for this work. Professor Dhillo’s future research will determine the potential of kisspeptin as a novel therapy for patients with infertility.