Our major interest is in genes that affect body weight regulation, whether their effects are on food intake, energy expenditure or on nutrient distribution to fat or lean tissue. By studying rare genetic disorders and rodent models of obesity and leanness, we hope to derive valuable lessons that are relevant to obesity and cardiovascular disease in the general population.

Human Studies
Dr. Gibson is a Clinical Geneticist with an interest in severe obesity and lipodystrophy. Our group applies state-of-the-art assessment of body fat mass, fat distribution and circulating hormones to individuals with severe obesity and genetic lipodystrophy syndromes.

In collaboration with the British Columbia Clinical Genomics Network, we combine this detailed metabolic profile with targeted assessment of copy-number variants and specific mutations in an effort to discover the cause of the condition.

Ultimately, our goal is to design therapies for these rare disorders. We then hope to translate these discoveries into viable treatments for prevention of obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the population as a whole.

• View the poster for the Comprehensive Characterization of Genetic Disorders of Body Weight study

Animal Studies
We are using the LabMaster indirect calorimetry system (TSE-Systems, Germany) to measure food intake, water intake, oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production in mouse models of obesity. We also employ Quantitative Magnetic Resonance (Echo Medical Systems, Texas) to measure fat mass and lean tissue mass in mouse and rat models.

Our CFI- and BCKDF-supported infrastructure allows us to perform longitudinal studies on the effects of genetic and dietary manipulation on weight regulation in both mice and rats. In so doing, we expect to uncover fundamental pathways controlling fat accumulation that are shared between rodents and humans.

This article describes the impact Dr. Gibson's translational research has had on the life of one young man: www.timescolonist.com/health/Back+from+brink+obese+young+brush+with+death+help+needed/4775324/story.html.

Baskin B, Gibson WT, Ray PN.: Duchenne muscular dystrophy caused by a complex rearrangement between intron 43 of the DMD gene and chromosome 4. Neuromuscul Disord. Mar;21(3):178-82 (2011). PMID: 21134752

Ngai YF, Chijiwa C, Mercimek-Mahmutoglu S, Stewart L, Yong SL, Robinson WP, Gibson WT. Pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1a and the GNAS p.R231H mutation: Somatic mosaicism in a mother with two affected sons. Am J Med Genet A. 152A(11): 2784–90 (2010). PMID: 20979189

Ngai YF, Quong WL, Glier MB, Glavas MM, Babich SL, Innis SM, Kieffer TJ, Gibson WT. Ldlr-/- Mice Display Decreased Susceptibility to Western-Type Diet-Induced Obesity Due to Increased Thermogenesis. Endocrinology. 151(11): 5226-36 (2010). PMID: 20881250

Gibson W, Liu J, Gaylinn B, Thorner MO, Meneilly GS, Babich SL, Thompson D, Chanoine JP. Effects of glucose and insulin on acyl ghrelin and desacyl ghrelin, leptin, and adiponectin in pregnant women with diabetes. Metabolism. Jun;59(6):841-7 (2010). PMID: 20005544

Glier MB, Pissios P, Babich SL, Macdonald ML, Hayden MR, Maratos-Flier E, Gibson WT. The metabolic phenotype of SCD1-deficient mice is independent of melanin-concentrating hormone. Peptides. 31(1):123-9 (2010). PMID: 19883709

Friedman J, Adam S, Arbour L, Armstrong L, Baross A, Birch P, Boerkoel C, Chan S, Chai D, Delaney AD, Flibotte S, Gibson WT, Langlois S, Lemyre E, Li HI, MacLeod P, Mathers J, Michaud JL, McGillivray BC, Patel MS, Qian H, Rouleau GA, Van Allen MI, Yong SL, Zahir FR, Eydoux P, Marra MA. Detection of pathogenic copy number variants in children with idiopathic intellectual disability using 500 K SNP array genomic hybridization. BMC Genomics. Nov 16;10:526. (2009). PMID: 19917086

Gibson WT. Key Concepts in Human Genetics: Understanding the Complex Phenotype. Chapter 1 in Genetics and Sports. Basel, Karger. Collins, M (Ed.). Med Sport Sci. Vol. 54. pp 1-10. (2009) ISSN: 0254-5020, ISBN: 978-3-8055-9027-3, e-ISBN 978-3-8055-9028-0. PMID: 19696504

Demos MK, Fullston T, Partington MW, Gécz J, Gibson WT. Clinical study of two brothers with a novel 33 bp duplication in the ARX gene. Am J Med Genet A. 149A(7):1482-6 (2009). PMID: 19507262

Gibson WT.  Genetic Association Studies for Complex Traits: Relevance for the Sports Medicine Practitioner.  Br J Sports Med. 43(5):314-316 (2009). PMID: 19066182

Tyson C, Qiao Y, Harvard C, Liu X, Arbour L, Bernier FP, McGillivray B, Farrell SA, Chudley AE, Clarke L, Gibson W, Dyack S, McLeod R, Costa T, Van Allen MI, Yong S-L, Graham GE, MacLeod P, Patel MS, Hurlburt J, Holden JJA, Lewis SME, Rajcan-Separovic E.: Submicroscopic deletions of 11q24-25 in individuals without Jacobsen syndrome: re-examination of the critical region by high-resolution array-CGH. Molecular Cytogenetics. Nov 11;1:23 (2008). PMID: 19000322

Lehman AM, McFadden D, Pugash D, Sangha K, Gibson WT, Patel MS.: Schinzel-Giedion syndrome: report of splenopancreatic fusion and proposed diagnostic criteria. Am J Med Genet A. 146A(10):1299-306 (2008). PMID: 18398855

Gibson W, Harvard C, Qiao Y, Somerville M, Lewis MES and E Rajcan-Separovic. Phenotype-genotype characterization of alpha-thalassemia mental retardation syndrome due to isolated monosomy of 16p13.3. Am J Med Genet 146A(2):225-32 (2008). PMID: 18076105

MacDonald M, Singaraja R, Bissada N, Ruddle P, Watts R, Karasinska J, Gibson WT, Fievet C, Vance J, Staels B, Hayden MR. Absence of stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 ameliorates features of the metabolic syndrome in LDLR-deficient mice. J Lipid Res 49(1):217-29 (2008). PMID: 17960025

Gibson WT, Hayden MR. Mycophenolate mofetil and atherosclerosis: results of animal and human studies. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1110:209-21 (2007). PMID: 17911436

Zahir F, Firth H, Baross A, Delaney A, Eydoux P, Gibson W, Langlois S, Martin H, Willat L, Marra M and JM Friedman. Novel deletions of 14q11.2 associated with developmental delay, cognitive impairment and similar minor anomalies in three children. J Med Genet 44(9):556-61 (2007). PMID: 17545556

Friedman JM, Baross A, Delaney AD, Ally A, Arbour L, Asano J, Bailey DK, Barber S, Birch P, Brown-John M, Cao M, Chan S, Charest DL, Farnoud N, Fernandes N, Flibotte S, Go A, Gibson WT, Holt RA, Jones SJ, Kennedy GC, Krzywinski M, Langlois S, Li HI, McGillivray BC, Nayar T, Pugh TJ, Rajcan-Separovic E, Schein JE, Schnerch A, Siddiqui A, Van Allen MI, Wilson G, Yong SL, Zahir F, Eydoux P and MA Marra.  Oligonucleotide microarray analysis of genomic imbalance in children with mental retardation. Am J Hum Genet 79:500-513 (2006). PMID: 16909388

Gibson WT, Hayden MR. Mycophenolate mofetil and animal models. Lupus 15(11 Suppl. 1):27-34 (2006). View online

Gibson WT. The beat goes on: ciliary proteins are defective in Meckel syndrome. Clin Genet. 69(5):400-1 (2006). PMID: 16650076

Van Raamsdonk JM, Gibson WT, Pearson J, Murphy Z, Lu G, Leavitt BR, Hayden MR. Body weight is modulated by levels of full-length huntingtin. Hum Mol Genet 15:1513-1523 (2006). PMID: 16571604

Gibson WT. A New Marfan-like syndrome caused by perturbed transforming growth factor-beta signalling. Clin Genet 68(4):330-331 (2005). View online

Gibson WT, Farooqi IS, Moreau M, DePaoli AM, Lawrence E, O’Rahilly S and RA Trussell. Congenital leptin deficiency due to homozygosity for the Δ133G mutation: report of a further case and evaluation of response to four years of leptin therapy. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 89: 4821-26 (2004). PMID: 15472169

Gibson WT, Ebersole BJ, Bhattacharyya S, Clayton P, Farooqi IS, Sealfon SC and S O'Rahilly. Mutational analysis of the serotonin receptor 5HT2c in severe early-onset human obesity. Can J Physi Pharm 82: 426-29 (2004). PMID: 15381968

Gibson WT, Pissios P, Trombly D, Luan J, Wareham N, Maratos-Flier E, O’Rahilly  S and IS Farooqi. Melanin-concentrating hormone receptor mutations and human obesity: Functional analysis. Obes Res 12(5): 743-49 (2004). PMID: 15166293

Gibson WT. Another four bite the dust: Mutations in a ubiquitously-expressed filamin protein cause several skeletal dysplasias. Clin Genet 66(2):110-111 (2004). View online

Orban P*, Gibson WT*. So many asthma loci, so little time. Clin Genet 66(2):107-8 (2004). *equal contribution. View online

Corzo D*, Gibson W*, Johnson K, Mitchell G, LePage G, Cox GF, Casey R, Zeiss C, Tyson H, Cutting GR, Raymond GV, Smith KD, Watkins PA, Moser AB, Moser HW, Steinberg SJ. Contiguous deletion of the X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy gene (ABCD1) and DXS1357E: a novel neonatal phenotype similar to peroxisomal biogenesis disorders. Am J Hum Genet. 70(6):1520-31 (2002). *equal contribution. PMID: 11992258

Farooqi IS, Keogh JM, Kamath S, Jones S, Gibson WT, Trussell R, Jebb SA, Lip GY, O'Rahilly S. Partial leptin deficiency and human adiposity. Nature. 414(6859):34-5 (2001). PMID: 11689931

NSERC Discovery Grant 2011-2016

CIHR Clinician Scientist Phase 2 – 2007-2014

CFRI Clinician Scientist – 2007-2012

CIHR Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes Operating Grants – 2007-2012

CFI/BCKDF Leaders Opportunities Fund – 2007-2009

Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program Career Enhancement Award – 2007-2010

CIHR Clinician Scientist Phase 1 – 2005-2007

CIHR-Institute of Genetics Clinician Investigator – 2005-2007

MSFHR Postdoctoral Fellowship – 2004-2005

CIHR Health Professionals Fellowship – 2001-2003

Overseas Research Studentship, Cambridge Overseas Trust – 2001-2003

Raymond and Beverly Sackler Award, University of Cambridge Clinical School – 2001-2003