Prof Michael Cowley

Michael Cowley is Professor and Head of the Department of Physiology at Monash University, He has a focus on obesity, diabetes, and metabolic disorders. He received his BSc. from the University of Melbourne, and did his PhD at Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research, before a post-doctoral fellowship at The Vollum Institute in Oregon. He was later an Assistant then Associate Scientist at Oregon National Primate Research Center in the USA, where he pioneered the use of obese monkeys as a model for pre-clinical assessment of metabolic drugs. In 2003 he founded Orexigen Therapeutics, which has led to the approval of his invention Contrave/Mysimba for weight loss in many countries. In 2008 he returned to Australia to Monash University. His work has mapped the neural circuits in the brain that sense nutrients and fat, to control appetite and body weight. His current research focusses on the role of the brain in controlling blood pressure and blood glucose by understanding brain/kidney, brain/fat and brain/liver communication.

Prof Cowley will be presenting in the Modulators of Energy Expenditure & Intake Symposium on Wednesday 21st July 2021, 1:30pm - 3:30pm