I am interested in obesity and metabolic diseases from a variety of angles.

1) The pathogenesis of these disorders including genetics diet, physical activity, psochosocial distress;
2) The identification of individuals at high risk of these disorders; and 3) the impact of these disorders in terms of chronic complications, health care utilization, quality of life and death.

I am involved in human studies which may take 2 major forms

1. Large epidemiologic surveys with extensive phenotyping which exploit biochemistry and genomics platforms.
2. Small studies involving intensive physiologic measurements including hyperinsulinemic clamps, imaging and meal challenges.

1. Khoo CM, Liew CF, Chew SK, Tai ES. The impact of central obesity as a pre-requisite for the diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2007 Jan;15(1):262-9

2. Lee JM, Ma S; Heng D, Tan CE, Chew SK, Hughes K, Tai, ES. Should central obesity be an optional or essential component of the metabolic syndrome? ischaemic heart disease risk in the Singapore Cardiovascular Cohort Study. Diabetes Care. 2007 Feb;30(2):343-7.

3. Unoki H, Takahashi A, Kawaguchi T, Hara K, Horikoshi M,Andersen G, Ng DPK, Holmkvist J, Borch-Johnsen K, Jørgensen T, Sandbæk A, Lauritzen T, Hansen T, Nurbaya S, Tsunoda T, Kubo M,Babazono T, Hirose H, Hayashi M, Iwamoto Y, Kashiwagi A, Kaku K Kawamori R, Tai ES, Pedersen O, Kamatani N, Kadowaki T, Kikkawa R, Nakamura Y, Maeda S. SNPs in KCNQ1 are associated with susceptibility to type 2 diabetes in East Asian and European populations. Nat Genet. 2008 Sep;40(9):1098-102.

4. Tan J, Dorajoo R, Seielstad M, Sim X, Ong RT, Chia KS, Wong TY, Saw SM, Chew SK, Aung T, Tai ES. FTO variants are associated with obesity in the Chinese and Malay populations in Singapore. Diabetes. 2008 Oct;57(10):2851-7.

5. Tai ES, Sim XL, Ong TH, Wong TY, Saw SM, Aung T, Kathiresan S, Orho-Melander M, Ordovas JM, Tan JT, Seielstad M. Polymorphisms at newly identified lipid associated loci are associated with blood lipids andcardiovascular disease in an Asian Malay population. J Lipid Res. 2009 Mar;50(3):514-20.

6. Lim LS, Tai ES, Aung T, Tay WT, Saw WM, Seielstad, M, Wong TY. Relationship of Age-related Cataract with Obesity and Obesity Genes in an Asian Population. 2009 Am J Epidemiol 169(10):1267-74.

7. Tan JT, Nurbaya S, Gardner D, Ye S, Tai ES, NG DPK. Genetic variation in KCNQ1 associates with fasting glucose and beta-cell function: a study of 3,734 subjects comprising three ethnicities living in Singapore. Diabetes 2009 Jun;58(6):1445-9

8. Nang EE, Khoo CM, Tai ES, Lim SC, Tavintharan S, Wong TY, Heng D, Lee J. Is there a clear threshold for fasting plasma glucose that differentiates between those with and without neuropathy and chronic kidney disease? The Singapore Prospective Study Program. Am J epidemiol. 2009 169(12):1454-62