Contact information
Research groups
Thomas Hill
MSc, PhD
Novo Nordisk Postdoctoral Research Fellow
I'm from London, Ontario, Canada, where I graduated from Western University with a BSc (Hons) in Biology, after spending a year at the University of Ottawa. Subsequently, I obtained an MSc in Biomedical and Molecular Sciences Research from King’s College London where my research focused on the role of short-chain free fatty acid receptors, FFAR2 and FFAR3, in the regulation of insulin secretion, under the supervision of Professor Shanta Persaud. I then continued my PhD at King’s College London working with Professor Peter Jones and Dr James Bowe where I investigated the role of Kisspeptin/GPR54 on islet β-cell function during pregnancy.
From October 2018, I shall be working at the University of Oxford as a Novo Nordisk Postdoctoral Research Fellow, where I will have the opportunity to work with Professor Dame Frances Ashcroft and Professor Patrik Rorsman at DPAG and OCDEM. My new area of study will be to assess the regulation of islet δ-cell secretion in health and disease. Using a Cre-Lox transgenic model to silence somatostatin secretion from the δ-cells of mouse islets, I will determine the role of locally-derived somatostatin on insulin and glucagon release. This project will build on my past experience of working with transgenic animal models with respect to investigating paracrine changes within the islets of Langerhans through measurements of integrated islet function both in vitro and in vivo. I hope to use this experience to identify novel mechanisms that can increase insulin release through modulation of the paracrine environment within the islets.
I am happy to supervise FHS and research students/interns. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in doing an islet biology project in the lab.
Recent publications
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Nicotinic Signaling Stimulates Glucagon Secretion in Mouse and Human Pancreatic α-Cells.
Journal article
Hamilton A. et al, (2025), Diabetes, 74, 53 - 64
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Loss of electrical β-cell to δ-cell coupling underlies impaired hypoglycaemia-induced glucagon secretion in type-1 diabetes.
Conference paper
Hill TG. et al, (2024), Nat Metab
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The Importance of Intra-Islet Communication in the Function and Plasticity of the Islets of Langerhans during Health and Diabetes.
Journal article
Hill TG. and Hill DJ., (2024), Int J Mol Sci, 25
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Kisspeptin upregulates β-cell serotonin production during pregnancy.
Journal article
Hill TG. et al, (2024), J Endocrinol, 260
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Maternal diet during pregnancy and adaptive changes in the maternal and fetal pancreas have implications for future metabolic health.
Journal article
Hill DJ. and Hill TG., (2024), Front Endocrinol (Lausanne), 15
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Using a somatostatin receptor-2 antagonist to restore hypoglycaemia-induced glucagon secretion in the non-obese diabetic mouse model of type 1 diabetes
Conference paper
Hill TG. et al, (2023), DIABETIC MEDICINE, 40
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Using a somatostatin receptor-2 antagonist to restore hypoglycaemia-induced glucagon secretion in type 1 diabetes
Conference paper
Hill TG. et al, (2023), DIABETOLOGIA, 66, S50 - S50
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Pleiotrophin Expression and Actions in Pancreatic β-Cells.
Journal article
Sevillano J. et al, (2022), Front Endocrinol (Lausanne), 13
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Arginine-vasopressin mediates counter-regulatory glucagon release and is diminished in type 1 diabetes.
Journal article
Kim A. et al, (2021), Elife, 10
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Arginine-vasopressin mediates counter-regulatory glucagon release and is diminished in type 1 diabetes
Journal article
Kim A. et al, (2021), eLife
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The KCNJ11-E23K Gene Variant Hastens Diabetes Progression by Impairing Glucose-Induced Insulin Secretion.
Journal article
Sachse G. et al, (2021), Diabetes, 70, 1145 - 1156
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Reduced somatostatin signalling leads to hypersecretion of glucagon in mice fed a high-fat diet.
Journal article
Kellard JA. et al, (2020), Mol Metab, 40
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Generating Beta-Cell-Specific Transgenic Mice Using the Cre-Lox System.
Journal article
Smith LIF. et al, (2020), Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 2128, 181 - 205
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Somatostatin secretion by Na+-dependent Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release in pancreatic delta-cells.
Journal article
Vergari E. et al, (2020), Nat Metab, 2, 32 - 40
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A role for placental kisspeptin in β cell adaptation to pregnancy
Journal article
Bowe JE. et al, (2019), JCI Insight, 4
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Kisspeptin and Glucose Homeostasis.
Journal article
Izzi-Engbeaya C. et al, (2019), Seminars in reproductive medicine, 37, 141 - 146
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Low extracellular magnesium does not impair glucose-stimulated insulin secretion.
Journal article
Gommers LMM. et al, (2019), PLoS One, 14
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The diet-derived short chain fatty acid propionate improves beta-cell function in humans and stimulates insulin secretion from human islets in vitro.
Journal article
Pingitore A. et al, (2017), Diabetes, obesity & metabolism, 19, 257 - 265
