Ines Barroso MSc, BSc, PhD

Ines obtained her BSc degree in Biology from the University of Lisbon (1992), before moving to the University of Cambridge where she was awarded a Ph.D. in Human Molecular Genetics (1996). After her Ph.D., she was a founding scientist at a start-up biotechnology company (Hexagon, later bought by Incyte) where she became Director of Diabetes Target Validation. In 2002, Inês moved to the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute where she worked for 16 years, which included serving as Head of the Human Genetics program for 6 years. Prior to joining the University of Exeter, she spent a year at the MRC Epidemiology Unit as Director of Research, Mechanisms of Metabolic Disease.

Ines has over 20 years of experience in the field of human genetics applied to human disease. With more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, she is ranked as one of the most cited researchers in her field. Her research traverses both the monogenic and polygenic fields and focuses on the genetic etiology and mechanisms of type 2 diabetes, obesity, rare forms of these conditions (e.g. childhood-onset obesity and syndromes of insulin action), and related quantitative traits. With collaborators, she has discovered many of the genes underpinning syndromes of insulin resistance, as well as being involved in obesity gene discovery, or mouse follow-up studies.