The award recognises young investigators who have made a significant contribution to our understanding of obesity. Dr Taheri received the award for nearly 10 years of work on obesity research, which recently yielded the first evidence that lack of sleep could be a contributory factor to the development of obesity, possibly by triggering changes in appetite hormones. Dr Taheri is also examining other potential mechanisms, using data collected from adolescents in the Children of the 90s cohort.

The award was presented at the Institute of Child Health in London in June. This, together with the Best Practice Award given by the ASO to the Childhood Obesity Clinic run by Dr Julian Hamilton-Shield at the Bristol Children’s Hospital, confirms that the University of Bristol is emerging as an important centre for obesity research in the UK.

Dr Taheri was also awarded a Young Investigator Award by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine for research into childhood sleep, after he presented preliminary findings regarding sleep from the Children of the 90s cohort. This was awarded in Utah in June.