Rate My Professor Susan Ozanne

Ozanne's research centres on the developmental programming of metabolic health, elucidating how suboptimal early-life nutrition, particularly during obese or undernourished pregnancies, increases offspring risks for type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and accelerated ageing. Her lab pioneered evidence that prenatal nutrition affects offspring lifespan and showed metformin treatment in gestational diabetes alters neonatal anthropometry independently of maternal glycaemic control, with implications for clinical practice. Current work examines maternal-fetal communication via placental extracellular vesicles, miRNAs as epigenetic mediators, oxidative stress, mitochondrial function, and interventions including exercise, metformin, semaglutide, and co-enzyme Q supplementation. Author of over 250 peer-reviewed papers, notable publications include 'Diet-induced obesity in female mice leads to offspring hyperphagia, adiposity, hypertension, and insulin resistance: a novel murine model of developmental programming' (2008), 'Catch-up growth and obesity in male mice' (2004), 'DNA damage, cellular senescence and organismal ageing: causal or correlative?' (2007), and 'Epigenetics and DOHaD: from basics to birth and beyond' (2017). Recognized with the Nick Hales Award (2013) for contributions to developmental origins of health and disease and elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci, 2022), she has supervised 20 PhDs and leads the Epigenetic Programming of Metabolic Health across the Life Course programme.