Grant: Foundation Grant

My team is one of the world's leading multidisciplinary health research group in the field of obesity. Over 30 years ago, with the use of computed tomography (CT), I began measuring the inner fat located in the abdomen (commonly called visceral fat). My team was the first to report that an excessive amount of visceral fat is related to major health problems such as diabetes and heart disease. We also found that fat underneath the skin (subcutaneous fat) was much less dangerous to health. Since then, the notion that visceral fat (visceral obesity) is dangerous to health has been widely accepted by scientists worldwide. Recently, we found that visceral obesity was also associated with too much fat stored in normally lean tissues such as the liver, the heart, and muscles. For instance, although excess liver fat is a major cause of liver failure and transplantation, its link with visceral obesity and lifestyle habits is not considered by clinicians and patients. The central theme of my program grant application is that when we are exposed to a "toxic lifestyle" (sedentary habits and poor diet), those who put on a certain amount of subcutaneous fat remain relatively healthy, while individuals who store fat in their inner organs become viscerally obese and develop chronic diseases. This notion has major clinical and public health consequences and represents a conceptual shift as the risk of overweight/obesity is largely estimated by the assessment of excess body weight without distinguishing where the fat is stored. Globally, the research program that I propose aims at a better understanding of how we store fat in various regions of the body, how genetic factors play a role (visceral obesity runs in families) and how this can be affected by our lifestyle habits. I will also remain committed to medical and lay public education as my research program is relevant to the health of millions of Canadians.