Principal Investigator Profile

Dr. Francis Finucane

Biography

Francis Finucane qualified from RCSI in 1998 and completed physician training in Beaumont Hospital, obtaining the MRCPI in 2001. He continued clinical training in endocrinology, diabetes mellitus and general internal medicine in Dublin, including a period of clinical research at the Metabolic Research Unit in St. James' Hospital. There, he conducted detailed metabolic assessments of young people with obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes and was awarded an MD from the University of Dublin (TCD) in 2008 for his work. He completed specialist training in endocrinology and internal medicine the same year. In order to explore further the mechanistic basis for the association between insulin resistance and adiposity, he undertook a four year period of post-doctoral research at the Institute of Metabolic Science in
Cambridge, funded by travel grants from Irish training bodies and a Career Development Fellowship from the Medical Research Council. Building on his work in Dublin, he conducted a formal assessment of the effects of aerobic exercise in older people and different factors modulating the response to exercise. He published the first study to show that exercise reduces liver fat content in humans. He led the writing group on a major international collaboration describing a novel genetic polymorphism associated with reduced body fat but increased diabetes and cardiovascular risk. Since returning to Ireland in 2010, Dr. Finucane has led the development of clinical services for people with severe obesity and related metabolic disorders from the West of Ireland.

Research Area:

His main areas of research interests are Obesity and related Metabolic Disorders, Bariatric Medicine, Type 2 Diabetes, Clinical Trials, and Genetic Aetiology of Diabetes

List of  Selected Publications:

1: Kilpeläinen TO, Zillikens MC, Stančákova A, Finucane FM, …Loos RJ. Genetic variation near IRS1 associates with reduced adiposity and an impaired metabolic profile. Nat Genet. 2011 Jun 26;43(8):753-60. doi: 10.1038/ng.866. PubMed PMID: 21706003.

2: Leelarathna L, Ward C, Davenport K, Donald S, Housden A, Finucane FM, Evans M. Reduced insulin requirements during participation in the DAFNE (dose adjustment for normal eating) structured education programme. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2011 May;92(2):e34-6. Epub 2011 Jan 26. PubMed PMID: 21269721.

3: Griffin SJ, Simmons RK, Williams KM, Prevost AT, Hardeman W, Grant J, Whittle F, Boase S, Hobbis I, Brage S, Westgate K, Fanshawe T, Sutton S, Wareham NJ, Kinmonth AL; ADDITION-Plus study team. Protocol for the ADDITION-Plus study: a randomised controlled trial of an individually-tailored behaviour change intervention among people with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes under intensive UK general practice care. BMC Public Health. 2011 Apr 4;11:211. PubMed PMID: 21463520; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3076276.

4: Huang-Doran I, Bicknell LS, Finucane FM, Rocha N, Porter KM, Tung YC, Szekeres F, Krook A, Nolan JJ, O'Driscoll M, Bober M, O'Rahilly S, Jackson AP, Semple RK; Majewski Osteodysplastic Primordial Dwarfism Study Group. Genetic defects in human pericentrin are associated with severe insulin resistance and diabetes. Diabetes. 2011 Mar;60(3):925-35. Epub 2011 Jan 26. PubMed PMID: 21270239; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3046854.

5: Hatunic M, Finucane FM, Norris S, Pacini G, Nolan JJ. Glucose metabolism after normalization of markers of iron overload by venesection in subjects with hereditary hemochromatosis. Metabolism. 2010 Dec;59(12):1811-5. Epub 2010 Aug 1. PubMed PMID: 20673928.

6: Al-Agha R, Kinsley BT, Finucane FM, Murray S, Daly S, Foley M, Smith SC, Firth RG. Caesarean section and macrosomia increase transient tachypnoea of the newborn in type 1 diabetes pregnancies. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2010 Sep;89(3):e46-8. Epub 2010 Jun 23. PubMed PMID: 20576305.

7: Besson H, Harwood CA, Ekelund U, Finucane FM, McDermott CJ, Shaw PJ, Wareham NJ. Validation of the historical adulthood physical activity questionnaire (HAPAQ) against objective measurements of physical activity. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2010 Jun 24;7:54. PubMed PMID: 20576086; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2902409.

8: Finucane FM, Sharp SJ, Purslow LR, Horton K, Horton J, Savage DB, Brage S, Besson H, De Lucia Rolfe E, Sleigh A, Martin HJ, Aihie Sayer A, Cooper C, Ekelund U, Griffin SJ, Wareham NJ. The effects of aerobic exercise on metabolic risk, insulin sensitivity and intrahepatic lipid in healthy older people from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study: a randomised controlled trial. Diabetologia. 2010 Apr;53(4):624-31. Epub 2010 Jan 6. PubMed PMID: 20052455.

9: Hernández-Alvarez MI, Thabit H, Burns N, Shah S, Brema I, Hatunic M, Finucane F, Liesa M, Chiellini C, Naon D, Zorzano A, Nolan JJ. Subjects with early-onset type 2 diabetes show defective activation of the skeletal muscle PGC-1{alpha}/Mitofusin-2 regulatory pathway in response to physical activity. Diabetes Care. 2010 Mar;33(3):645-51. Epub 2009 Dec 23. PubMed PMID: 20032281; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2827524.

10: Hatunic M, Finucane FM, Brennan AM, Norris S, Pacini G, Nolan JJ. Effect of iron overload on glucose metabolism in patients with hereditary hemochromatosis. Metabolism. 2010 Mar;59(3):380-4. Epub 2009 Oct 7. PubMed PMID: 19815242.

11: De Lucia Rolfe E, Sleigh A, Finucane FM, Brage S, Stolk RP, Cooper C, Sharp SJ, Wareham NJ, Ong KK. Ultrasound measurements of visceral and subcutaneous abdominal thickness to predict abdominal adiposity among older men and women. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Mar;18(3):625-31. Epub 2009 Sep 24. PubMed PMID: 19779473.

12: Green AQ, Krishnan S, Finucane FM, Rayman G. Altered C-fiber function as an indicator of early peripheral neuropathy in individuals with impaired glucose tolerance. Diabetes Care. 2010 Jan;33(1):174-6. PubMed PMID: 20040675; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2797968.

13: Finucane FM, Luan J, Wareham NJ, Sharp SJ, O'Rahilly S, Balkau B, Flyvbjerg A, Walker M, Højlund K, Nolan JJ; European Group for the Study of Insulin Resistance: Relationship between Insulin Sensitivity and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Study Group), Savage DB. Correlation of the leptin:adiponectin ratio with measures of insulin resistance in non-diabetic individuals. Diabetologia. 2009 Nov;52(11):2345-9. Epub 2009 Sep 12. PubMed PMID: 19756488; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2759015.

14: Finucane FM. Obesity in Irish youth: epidemiology and implications. Ir J Med Sci. 2009 Sep;178(3):249-55. Epub 2009 Jun 3. PubMed PMID: 19495834.

15: Finucane FM, Horton J, Purslow LR, Savage DB, Brage S, Besson H, Horton K, Rolfe Ede L, Sleigh A, Sharp SJ, Martin HJ, Sayer AA, Cooper C, Ekelund U, Griffin SJ, Wareham NJ. Randomized controlled trial of the efficacy of aerobic exercise in reducing metabolic risk in healthy older people: The Hertfordshire Physical Activity Trial. BMC Endocr Disord. 2009 Jun 19;9:15. PubMed PMID:19545359; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2708167.

16: MacMahon Tone J, Agha A, Sherlock M, Finucane F, Tormey W, Thompson CJ. An intensive nurse-led, multi-interventional clinic is more successful in achieving vascular risk reduction targets than standard diabetes care. Ir J Med Sci. 2009 Jun;178(2):179-86. Epub 2009 Apr 15. PubMed PMID: 19367427.

17: Steele RM, Finucane FM, Simmons RK, Griffin SJ, Wareham NJ, Ekelund U; ProActive research team. Altered respiratory function is associated with increased metabolic risk, independently of adiposity, fitness and physical activity. Diabet Med. 2009 Apr;26(4):362-9. PubMed PMID: 19388965.

18: Sherlock M, O'Sullivan E, Agha A, Behan LA, Owens D, Finucane F, Rawluk D, Tormey W, Thompson CJ. Incidence and pathophysiology of severe hyponatraemia in neurosurgical patients. Postgrad Med J. 2009 Apr;85(1002):171-5. PubMed PMID: 19417163.

19: Steele RM, Finucane FM, Griffin SJ, Wareham NJ, Ekelund U. Obesity is associated with altered lung function independently of physical activity and fitness. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2009 Mar;17(3):578-84. Epub 2008 Dec 11. PubMed PMID: 19219060.

20: Mankia SK, Weerakkody RA, Wijesuriya S, Kandasamy N, Finucane F, Guilfoyle M, Antoun N, Pickard J, Gurnell M. Spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhoea as the presenting feature of an invasive macroprolactinoma. BMJ Case Rep. 2009;2009. pii: bcr12.2008.1383. Epub 2009 May 21. PubMed PMID: 21686345; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3027833.

21: Finucane FM, Pittock S, Fallon M, Hatunic M, Ong K, Burns N, Costigan C, Murphy N, Nolan JJ. Elevated blood pressure in overweight and obese Irish children. Ir J Med Sci. 2008 Dec;177(4):379-81. Epub 2008 Sep 30. PubMed PMID: 18825476.

22: Finucane FM, Liew A, Thornton E, Rogers B, Tormey W, Agha A. Clinical insights into the safety and utility of the insulin tolerance test (ITT) in the assessment of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2008 Oct;69(4):603-7. Epub 2008 Mar 12. PubMed PMID: 18346212.

23: Franks PW, Scheele C, Loos RJ, Nielsen AR, Finucane FM, Wahlestedt C, Pedersen BK, Wareham NJ, Timmons JA. Genomic variants at the PINK1 locus are associated with transcript abundance and plasma nonesterified fatty acid concentrations in European whites. FASEB J. 2008 Sep;22(9):3135-45. Epub 2008 May 21. PubMed PMID: 18495756.

24: Brema I, Hatunic M, Finucane F, Burns N, Nolan JJ, Haider D, Wolzt M, Ludvik B. Plasma visfatin is reduced after aerobic exercise in early onset type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2008 Jul;10(7):600-2. Epub 2008 May 12. PubMed PMID: 18476987.

25: Finucane FM, Teong L, Pittock S, Fallon M, Hatunic M, Costigan C, Murphy N, Crowley VE, Nolan JJ. Adverse metabolic profiles in a cohort of obese Irish children. Ann Clin Biochem. 2008 Mar;45(Pt 2):206-9. PubMed PMID: 18325187.

26: Finucane FM, O'Connell J, Kinsley BT. Propylthiouracil induced C-ANCA positive agranulocytosis complicating Graves' thyrotoxicosis in pregnancy. Ir J Med Sci. 2008 Mar;177(1):69-71. Epub 2007 Jul 5. PubMed PMID: 17611791.

27: Hatunic M, Finucane F, Burns N, Gasparro D, Nolan JJ. Vascular inflammatory markers in early-onset obese and type 2 diabetes subjects before and after three months' aerobic exercise training. Diab Vasc Dis Res. 2007 Sep;4(3):231-4. PubMed PMID: 17907114.

28: Finucane FM, Gaffney L, Hatunic M, Burns N, Nolan JJ. Attendance at an Irish diabetes dietetic outpatient clinic. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2007 Aug;77(2):335-6. Epub 2006 Dec 1. PubMed PMID: 17141352.

29: Burns N, Finucane FM, Hatunic M, Gilman M, Murphy M, Gasparro D, Mari A, Gastaldelli A, Nolan JJ. Early-onset type 2 diabetes in obese white subjects is characterised by a marked defect in beta cell insulin secretion, severe insulin resistance and a lack of response to aerobic exercise training. Diabetologia. 2007 Jul;50(7):1500-8. Epub 2007 Mar 29. PubMed PMID: 17393133.

30: Finucane FM. Cerebral aneurysms. N Engl J Med. 2006 Dec 21;355(25):2703; author reply 2705. PubMed PMID: 17183002.

31: Hatunic M, Burns N, Finucane F, Mannion C, Nolan JJ. Contrasting clinical and cardiovascular risk status between early and later onset type 2 diabetes. Diab Vasc Dis Res. 2005 May;2(2):73-5. PubMed PMID: 16305062.

32: Agha A, Smith D, Finucane F, Sherlock M, Morris A, Baylis P, Thompson CJ. Attenuation of vasopressin-induced antidiuresis in poorly controlled type 2 diabetes. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2004 Dec;287(6):E1100-6. Epub 2004 Aug 3. PubMed PMID: 15292031.

33: Smith D, Finucane F, Phillips J, Baylis PH, Finucane J, Tormey W, Thompson CJ. Abnormal regulation of thirst and vasopressin secretion following surgery for craniopharyngioma. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2004 Aug;61(2):273-9. PubMed PMID: 15272926.

34: Agha A, Liew A, Finucane F, Baker L, O'Kelly P, Tormey W, Thompson CJ. Conventional glucocorticoid replacement overtreats adult hypopituitary patients with partial ACTH deficiency. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2004 Jun;60(6):688-93. PubMed PMID: 15163331.

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