Cambridge professor and obesity expert Giles Yeo to headline BVA Congress 2025

The lecture, titled The genetics of obesity: Can an old dog teach us new tricks?, will take place on Friday 21 November between 11am and 12.15pm in the BVA Congress Theatre. 

Giles Yeo MBE is the professor of molecular neuroendocrinology at the Medical Research Council Metabolic Diseases Unit and scientific director of the Genomics/Transcriptomics Core at the University of Cambridge. He is a well-known broadcaster thanks to his appearances on programmes such as BBC’s ‘Horizon’ and ‘Trust me, I’m a Doctor’ and author of two books: Gene Eating: The Story Of Human Appetite and Why Calories Don't Count. He also hosts the podcast Dr Giles Yeo Chews The Fat. 

Dr Yeo's and his colleagues at the University of Cambridge recently identified a genetic mutation in Labrador Retrievers that significantly increases their propensity for obesity and food motivation. This mutation, a 14-base pair deletion in the POMC gene, disrupts the production of beta-MSH and beta-endorphin, hormones involved in regulating appetite and energy balance. The study found this mutation is present in about 25% of Labradors and 66% of flat-coated retrievers, and is also more common in assistance dogs than pet Labradors.  

His lecture will lay out the evidence for a genetic basis to body weight and explore the role of the leptin-melanocortin pathway in both human and dog obesity, and its conservation through evolution. 

Professor Yeo said: 

“It is clear that the cause of obesity is a result of eating more than you burn. It is physics. What is more complex to answer is why some people eat more than others? Differences in our genetic make-up mean some of us are slightly more hungry all the time and so eat more than others. I will highlight the fat-sensing 'leptin-melanocortin' pathway, as a key appetite control circuit. Not only is the pathway conserved in all mammals and many higher vertebrates, but genetic disruption of the pathway as an evolutionary strategy to influence feeding behaviour has also been conserved. In contrast to the prevailing view, obesity is not a choice. People who are obese are not bad or lazy; rather, they are fighting their biology.” 

British Veterinary Association President Dr. Elizabeth Mullineaux said: 

“Having heard Dr Yeo speak on this fascinating topic once before, I’m delighted that we can offer him this opportunity to share the results and ramifications of his ground-breaking research with the veterinary audience. I’m sure our BVA Congress delegates will appreciate both Dr Yeo’s scientific knowledge and his dynamic delivery style and I’m personally looking forward to learning more about this exciting topic.” 

The first Wooldridge Memorial Lecture, posthumously named after veterinary politician and researcher Dr W R Wooldridge, was delivered at BVA Congress in 1967 by Professor Lord Stamp and, over the years, has been followed by lectures from eminent speakers including the Princess Royal (1992), President of the Animal Health Trust; Sir Robert May FRS, Chief Scientific Adviser, Office of Science and Technology (1999); Dr John Bradshaw, author of bestsellers “Dog Sense/In Defence of Dogs” and “Cat Sense” (2015); author and campaigner Ben Goldacre (2017) and pioneering animal welfare scientist Temple Grandin (2019). 

Find the BVA Congress programme and buy your tickets for London Vet Show here.