Research Interests

• Understanding and prevention of adverse metabolic programming: The PRiDE study explores the role of novel factors in early pregnancy on the risk of Gestational Diabetes and cardio-metabolic risk of the offspring (PRiDE study). In addition to the PRiDE study, he is conducting a number of clinical studies involving normal and diabetes pregnancies in the UK, India, Kenya and Malaysia. He is actively involved in mechanistic studies delineating the molecular mechanisms of nutritional imbalance.
• Application of research evidence into clinical practice: For example, how best to implement the multi-factorial intervention in Diabetes, in particular in South Asian diabetes. He also actively pursues on developing and implementing "systems" that drives and delivers high quality of individualised, integrated care in diabetes at low cost.

His other interests are:

• Health inequalities in South Asians and other BME population - Role of diet, lifestyle, behaviour & psychological aspects in Diabetes.

Biography

Prof Ponnusamy Saravanan (known as Sara) was appointed as an Associate Clinical Professor & Honorary Consultant Physician in Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism in Feb 2007 and became a full professor in 2017. He did his research in Bristol and his specialist training in Bristol & Exeter. For his PhD, he conducted the world's largest clinical trial on the effects of combined T4/T3 (thyroid hormone replacement). His thyroid work was instrumental in changing the combined guidelines issued by American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists & American Thyroid Association.

Currently, Prof Saravanan pursue his longterm interest of research in to the mechanisms of Gestational Diabetes and its ethnic variations. He passionately believes in 'primordial prevention' of metabolic disorders. To this end, he secured an MRC grant to establish an early pregnancy cohort of women at risk of Gestational Diabetes. Prevention of Gestational Diabetes has the potential to prevent Diabetes not only in the mother but also in her offspring.

He currently collaborates with many different institutions in the UK, India, Kenya and Malaysia on various research projects.These collaborative projects were funded by MRC and Global Challenges Research Fund. He strongly believes that understanding the ethnic variations in diabetes will help to identify new pathways of disease process thereby new treatment strategies, which will ultimately lead to prevention as well as individualising treatments for people with diabetes & cardiovascular diseases.

Research Projects

Publications

Post Graduate Supervision