Hyperinsulinism Genes Exeter

University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter, UK

info@hyperinsulinismgenes.org
Tom giving lectures

Our Latest News and Outreach Events

Issy wins multiple awards

11 March 2025

Congratulations to Isabella Lazaridi our PTY student who won not just one award but three! The Society for Endocrinology PTY Project Prize- BSc Medical Sciences, the Medical Science Year Prize and a Deans commendation. Congratulations Issy!


Event date: February 2025
Venue: University of Exeter


CHI Family Conference, Liverpool, 2024

14 November 2024

Some of the HI genes team were lucky enough to travel to Liverpool and take part in the CHI family conference.


Event date: November 2024
Venue: Liverpool, UK


Team Away Day

13 August 2023

Team away day. What a great day, we even managed to dodge the summer showers!


Event date: July 2023


The Children’s Hyperinsulinism Charity Family Event

21 May 2023

Jasmin, Jayne, Evgenia and Sarah from the Exeter team were honoured to have been invited to attend the 2023 Children’s Hyperinsulinism Charity family event.  A fantastic opportunity to share our work and also to learn from the families who are…


Event date: May 2023
Venue: Drayton Manor Theme Park


Outreach event at local secondary school

8 December 2022

Tom visits Queen Elizabeth’s School to speak to local students about the HI research and to provide some useful insights into studying Medicine and Medical Sciences.


Event date: December 2022


Open Hyperinsulinism Genes project shortlisted for Award

19 October 2022

The Open Hyperinsulinism Genes Project Nominated by Dr Sarah Flanagan. Partnered with Congenital Hyperinsulinism International and The Genomics Laboratory Congenital Hyperinsulinism is a life-threatening condition where too much insulin causes dangerously low blood sugar. Genetic testing is required to guide medical management….


Event date: October 2022


Tom chairs session of major international genetics conference

29 October 2020

Tom Laver organised and chaired an invited session on penetrance of monogenic disease at the ASHG international genetics conference to a live audience of over 500 people.



The HIGenes Team attend the CHI virtual family conference

11 July 2020

Sarah, Tom and Jayne attend the first virtual Congenital Hyperinsulinism Family Conference. A great opportunity to talk to healthcare professionals and families about the important role of genetics in this condition.



The HIgenes team are continuing with their outreach efforts

19 November 2019
The HIgenes team are continuing with their outreach efforts. Tom talks to students at Queen Elizabeth’s School about  “When genes go wrong: genetic testing in diabetes and hyperinsulinism”. During his talk he highlighted many of the benefits of pursuing a...


Sarah attends the CHI family conference in Vienna

1 September 2019
Sarah attends the Congenital Hyperinsulinism International Family Conference in Vienna. A wonderful opportunity to learn from families affected by this condition and to learn about the impact of our research.


Tom attends the ESHG meeting in Sweden

19 June 2019

Tom is at the European Society of Human Genetics meeting in Sweden showcasing his work on CNVs in hyperinsulinism.



EASD Study Group on the Genetics of Diabetes

5 May 2019
We are in Prague attending the 7th Meeting of the EASD Study Group on the Genetics of Diabetes. Great talks from the HIgenes team including an overview of hyperinsulinism in Kabuki syndrome from Jayne Houghton followed by a presentation from...


The HIgenes team attended the Paediatric Endocrinology Symposium

7 March 2019
The HIgenes team attended the Paediatric Endocrinology Symposium on Hypoglycaemia. It was great to give a lecture detailing the role of genetics in Hyperinsulinism.


Latest exciting research findings

7 March 2019
Sarah shares the latest exciting research findings from the HIgenes team with other Sir Henry Dale Fellows at the Wellcome Trust.


It’s outreach month for the HI genes team

1 November 2018
It is outreach month for the HI genes team. Sarah and Tom have been busy passing on their enthusiasm for science to students at Exeter School and Queen Elizabeth’s School in Crediton, UK.


Celebrating World Diabetes Day

1 November 2018


Tom presents his work on Chromosome 20 deletions

1 November 2018
Tom presents his work on Chromosome 20 deletions in hyperinsulinism at the American Society of Human Genetics conference in San Diego, USA. Congratulations Tom on receiving a ‘Reviewer’s Choice’ Award.


#JeansforGenes

19 September 2018
It’s that time of year again to raise some money for an extremely worthwhile cause #JeansforGenes.


New Partnership with NHS and CHI

19 September 2018
The HI genes team are extremely pleased to announce that they have teamed up with the Charitable Organisation, Congenital Hyperinsulinism International. The Exeter team have received generous funds donated by CHI which will allow them to provide genetic testing to...


Sian attends the CHI Family Conference in Athens

1 September 2018
Sian attends the Congenital Hyperinsulinism International Family Conference in Athens. A great opportunity to highlight the importance of genetics in the condition and to learn from families.


Sarah attended the Children’s Hyperinsulinism Charity

22 June 2018
Sarah attended the Children’s Hyerinsulinism Charity, Bringing Families Together Conference. It was a great opportunity for talk to the families about the underlying genetic causes of the disorder and to learn from their experiences


Sian has been awarded an OBE

22 June 2018
HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Sian who has been awarded an OBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list. The team had great fun helping Sian celebrate in sunny Exeter.


Tom Laver helps to bring science to the masses at the University of Exeter

22 May 2018
Tom Laver helps to bring science to the masses at the University of Exeter ‘Pint of Science’ event. Standing room only for his talk on ‘When genes go wrong, learning from rare disease’.


Sarah Flanagan has been selected to receive the G.B. Morgagni Young Investigator Award

22 May 2018
Sarah Flanagan has been selected to receive the G.B. Morgagni Young Investigator Award, a prize which celebrates exceptional research in the field of metabolic diseases. The prize is named after Giovanni Battista Morgagni who was one of the first scientists...


Jayne Houghton provides a great training session

22 May 2018
Jayne Houghton provides a great training session to the diagnostic team at the RD&E Hospital on occurrence of hyperinsulinism in Kabuki syndrome.


Our great team who braved the snow

14 March 2018
Woolly hats off to our great team who braved the snow to keep the Exeter laboratory open. Here is their innovative attempt to create more staff!


The Exeter Monogenic Diabetes Training course

4 February 2018
The Exeter Monogenic Diabetes Training course was a great success. Over 100 delegates from 12 different countries attended the two day symposium where they learnt how to better diagnose and manage this condition. The role of HNF4A in congenital hyperinsulinism...


Our new paper describing a variants in the MAFA gene as a new cause of hyperinsulinism

16 January 2018
Our new paper describing a pathogenic variant in the MAFA gene in families with insulinomatosis and diabetes is receiving some good media attention. This important finding provides insights into the role of MAFA in the pancreatic beta cell. The early...


Attending the University of Exeter’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences retreat

12 January 2018
The HI Genes team kick off the new year by attending the University of Exeter’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences retreat held at the beautiful Dartington Hall. Sarah gave an overview of the team’s work and Tom presented a poster on...


We are supporting World Diabetes Day

17 November 2017
We are supporting World Diabetes Day. Diabetes affects the lives of many individuals diagnosed with congenital hyperinsulinism. Up to 53% of individuals develop hyperglycaemia following near-total pancreatectomy and for some, this will progress to insulin-treated diabetes. Individuals with dominantly inherited...


Raising money for the Children’s Hyperinsulinism charity

17 October 2017
The HIgenes team and it’s honorary members put on their running shoes to raise money for the Children’s Hyperinsulinism charity. We had over 25 runners from Exeter who ran either 5K, 10K or 21K. Thanks to everyone involved.


Sarah attends the Endocrine First Global summit in Athens

16 October 2017
Sarah attends the Endocrine First Global summit in Athens, Greece. This was a great opportunity to meet with collaborators and many of the lovely clinicians who refer patients to Exeter for genetic testing.


There is still plenty of time to sign up for Halloween HI-ke

11 August 2017
There is still plenty of time to sign up for Halloween HI-ke. A virtual 5K, 10K or half-marathon race. All proceeds go to the Hyperinsulinism Charity. It’s a fantastic cause so please help to support this if you can (See...


Tom represents the HIgenes team at the EASD-Study Group

11 August 2017
Tom represents the HIgenes team at the EASD-Study Group on Genetics of Diabetes conference in Leiden. During the meeting, Tom presented his work on investigating the role of variants in UCP2 in individuals with congenital hyperinsulinism.


Our 1000th visitor to the HIgenes website

5 March 2017
Ten months since its launch and we have received our 1000th visitor to the HIgenes website. We are always trying to improve the content of website so if you have any suggestions or comments please email them directly to S.Flanagan@exeter.ac.uk.


Congenital Hyperinsulinism International release a behind the scenes video

25 February 2017
Congenital Hyperinsulinism International release a behind the scenes video showing the process of genetic testing for Hyperinsulinism in the Exeter Laboratory.


Welcome to the team Anna!

25 February 2017
Anna Bussell, an MSc Student at the University of Exeter, has joined the HIgenes research group. Welcome to the team Anna!


Sian describes the teams work researching the genetic causes of neonatal diabetes and hyperinsulinism

22 November 2016
To mark World Diabetes Day Sian describes the teams work researching the genetic causes of neonatal diabetes and hyperinsulinism for the University of Exeter Medical School Facebook page. To see the video click here.


Sian attends the Congenital Hyperinsulinism International Family Conference

30 September 2016
Sian attends the Congenital Hyperinsulinism International Family Conference in Paris where she explains about the crucial role of genetics in this condition.


The HIgenes team had the pleasure of welcoming Julie Raskin, Davelyn Hood and Janna Pelle

30 September 2016
The HIgenes team had the pleasure of welcoming Julie Raskin, Davelyn Hood and Janna Pelle from Congenital Hyperinsulinism International to Exeter. After a tour of the laboratory and discussions around the research taking place in Exeter the team learnt about...


Sarah talks to the Exeter Molecular Genetics Diagnostic team

17 August 2016
Sarah talks to the Exeter Molecular Genetics Diagnostic team (those that do all of the hard work!) about the importance of genetic testing in individuals with congenital hyperinsulinism.


Sarah talks to the Genetic Diabetes Nurses

17 August 2016
Sarah talks to the Genetic Diabetes Nurses at the Exeter study day on the role of HNF1A mutations in congenital hyperinsulinism.


Sian and Sarah attend the 2016 ‘Congenital Hypoglycaemia Disorders: Hyperinsulinism and GSD’ conference

5 May 2016
Sian and Sarah attend the 2016 ‘Congenital Hypoglycaemia Disorders: Hyperinsulinism and GSD’ professional conference hosted by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Congenital Hyperinsulinism International (CHI) family day conference.


Sarah explains her work on congenital hyperinsulinism to colleagues

5 May 2016
Sarah explains her work on congenital hyperinsulinism to colleagues at the Living Systems Institute Research Symposium at the University of Exeter.


Tweets

Our Latest News and Outreach Events

Issy wins multiple awards

11 March 2025

Congratulations to Isabella Lazaridi our PTY student who won not just one award but three! The Society for Endocrinology PTY Project Prize- BSc Medical Sciences, the Medical Science Year Prize and a Deans commendation. Congratulations Issy!


Read feature article