A/Prof Ross Laybutt
Research Level
Biography
A/Prof Ross Laybutt received his PhD from the University of New South Wales in 1998. He undertook postdoctoral studies at Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston. He was appointed Head of the Islet Biology Laboratory at Garvan in 2008 and promoted to Conjoint Associate Professor, St Vincent's Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney in 2014.
His research is focussed on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of pancreatic beta cell failure in type 1 and type 2 diabetes. His work has discovered fundamental roles of beta cell dedifferentiation and endoplasmic reticulum stress in the loss of functional beta cell mass in diabetes. He has received research funding from Australian Research Council (ARC Future Fellowship), Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Diabetes Australia Research Program and National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.
Ross is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology. He was also Senior Editor of Journal of Endocrinology and Journal of Molecular Endocrinology, Council Member and Treasurer of the Australian Diabetes Society, Program Organising Chair of the Australasian Diabetes Congress and a founder of the Australian Islet Study Group.
A/Prof Ross Laybutt received his PhD from the University of New South Wales in 1998. He undertook postdoctoral studies at Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston. He was appointed Head of the Islet Biology Laboratory at Garvan in 2008 and promoted to Conjoint Associate Professor, St Vincent's Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney in 2014.
His research is focussed on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of pancreatic beta cell failure in type 1 and type 2 diabetes. His work has discovered fundamental roles of beta cell dedifferentiation and endoplasmic reticulum stress in the loss of functional beta cell mass in diabetes. He has received research funding from Australian Research Council (ARC Future Fellowship), Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Diabetes Australia Research Program and National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.
Ross is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology. He was also Senior Editor of Journal of Endocrinology and Journal of Molecular Endocrinology, Council Member and Treasurer of the Australian Diabetes Society, Program Organising Chair of the Australasian Diabetes Congress and a founder of the Australian Islet Study Group.
Awards and Honours
2005 - NHMRC Early Career Researcher Award, Australian Academy of Science
2002 - R Douglas Wright Biomedical Career Development Award, NHMRC
1999 - Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship
Education
1994 - BSc Honours Class I, University of New South Wales - Australia
Selected Publications
Bensellam M, Chan JY, Lee K, Joglekar MV, Hardikar AA, Loudovaris T, Thomas HE, Jonas JC, Laybutt DR. Phlda3 regulates beta cell survival during stress. Sci Rep. 2019; 9(1):12827. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-49289-5
Lalwani A, Warren J, Liuwantara D, Hawthorne WJ, O'Connell PJ, Gonzalez FJ, Stokes RA, Chen J, Laybutt DR, Craig ME, Swarbrick MM, King C, Gunton JE. β Cell Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1α Is Required for the Prevention of Type 1 Diabetes. Cell Rep. 2019;27(8):2370-2384.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.04.086.
Chan JY, Lee K, Maxwell EL, Liang C, Laybutt DR. Macrophage alterations in islets of obese mice linked to beta cell disruption in diabetes. Diabetologia. 2019;62(6):993-999. doi: 10.1007/s00125-019-4844-y.
Macdonald GC, Hesselson SE, Chan JY, Jenkins AB, Laybutt DR, Hesselson D, Campbell LV. Deletion distal to the PAX6 coding region reveals a novel basis for familial cosegregation of aniridia and diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2019;148:64-71. doi:10.1016/j.diabres.2018.12.002.
Loh K, Shi YC, Bensellam M, Lee K, Laybutt DR, Herzog H. Y1 receptor deficiency in β-cells leads to increased adiposity and impaired glucose metabolism. Sci Rep. 2018; 8(1):11835. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-30140-2.
Sanchez-Parra C, Jacovetti C, Dumortier O, Lee K, Peyot ML, Guay C, Prentki M, Laybutt DR, Van Obberghen E, Regazzi R. Contribution of the Long Noncoding RNA H19 to β-Cell Mass Expansion in Neonatal and Adult Rodents. Diabetes. 2018; 67(11): 2254-2267. doi: 10.2337/db18-0201.
Lee NJ, Ali N, Zhang L, Qi Y, Clarke I, Enriquez RF, Brzozowska M, Lee IC, Rogers MJ, Laybutt DR, Center JR, Baldock PA, Herzog H. Osteoglycin, a novel coordinator of bone and glucose homeostasis. Mol Metab. 2018; 13:30-44. doi: 10.1016/j.molmet.2018.05.004.
Kee AJ, Chagan J, Chan JY, Bryce NS, Lucas CA, Zeng J, Hook J, Treutlein H, Laybutt DR, Stehn JR, Gunning PW, Hardeman EC. On-target action of anti-tropomyosin drugs regulates glucose metabolism. Sci Rep. 2018; 8(1):4604. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-22946-x.
Kammoun HL, Allen TL, Henstridge DC, Barre S, Coll RC, Lancaster GI, Cron L, Reibe S, Chan JY, Bensellam M, Laybutt DR, Butler MS, Robertson AAB, O'Neill LA, Cooper MA, Febbraio MA. Evidence against a role for NLRP3-driven islet inflammation in db/db mice. Mol Metab. 2018; 10:66-73. doi: 10.1016/j.molmet.2018.02.001.
Stoll L, Sobel J, Rodriguez-Trejo A, Guay C, Lee K, Venø MT, Kjems J, Laybutt DR, Regazzi R. Circular RNAs as novel regulators of β-cell functions in normal and disease conditions. Mol Metab. 2018; 9:69-83. doi: 10.1016/j.molmet.2018.01.010.
Bensellam M, Jonas JC, Laybutt DR. Mechanisms of β-cell dedifferentiation in diabetes: recent findings and future research directions. J Endocrinol. 2018; 236(2):R109-R143. Review.
Peiris H, Duffield MD, Fadista J, Jessup CF, Kashmir V, Genders AJ, McGee SL, Martin AM, Saiedi M, Morton N, Carter R, Cousin MA, Kokotos AC, Oskolkov N, Volkov P, Hough TA, Fisher EMC, Tybulewicz VLG, Busciglio J, Coskun PE, Becker A, Belichenko PV, Mobley WC, Ryan MT, Chan JY, Laybutt DR, Coates PT, Yang S, Ling C, Groop L, Pritchard MA, Keating DJ. A syntenic cross species aneuploidy genetic screen links RCAN1 expression to β-cell mitochondrial dysfunction in Type 2 diabetes. PLoS Genetics. 2016 May; 12 (5): e1006033. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1006033. eCollection.
Herbert TP, Laybutt DR. A Reevaluation of the Role of the Unfolded Protein Response in Islet Dysfunction: Maladaptation or a Failure to Adapt? Diabetes. 2016 Jun;65(6):1472-80.
Bensellam M, Maxwell EL, Chan JY, Luzuriaga J, West PK, Jonas JC, Gunton JE, Laybutt DR. Hypoxia reduces ER-to-Golgi protein trafficking and increases cell death by inhibiting the adaptive unfolded protein response in mouse beta cells. Diabetologia. 2016 Jul;59(7):1492-502.
Dooley J, Tian L, Schonefeldt S, Delghingaro-Augusto V, Garcia-Perez JE, Pasciuto E, Di Marino D, Carr EJ, Oskolkov N, Lyssenko V, Franckaert D, Lagou V, Overbergh L, Vandenbussche J, Allemeersch J, Chabot-Roy G, Dahlstrom JE, Laybutt DR, Petrovsky N, Socha L, Gevaert K, Jetten AM, Lambrechts D, Linterman MA, Goodnow CC, Nolan CJ, Lesage S, Schlenner SM, Liston A. Genetic predisposition for beta cell fragility underlies type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Nat Genet. 2016 May;48(5):519-27.
Chan JY, Luzuriaga J, Maxwell EL, West PK, Bensellam M, Laybutt DR. The balance between adaptive and apoptotic unfolded protein responses regulates β-cell death under ER stress conditions through XBP1, CHOP and JNK. Mol Cell Endocrinol 2015; 413:189-201.
Bensellam M, Montgomery MK, Luzuriaga J, Chan JY, Laybutt DR. Inhibitor of differentiation proteins protect against oxidative stress by regulating the antioxidant–mitochondrial response in mouse beta cells. Diabetologia 2015; 58:758-70.
Chan JY, Luzuriaga J, Bensellam M, Biden TJ, Laybutt DR. Failure of the adaptive unfolded protein response in islets of obese mice is linked with abnormalities in β-cell gene expression and progression to diabetes. Diabetes 2013; 62:1557-68.
Walters SN, Luzuriaga J, Chan JY, Grey ST, Laybutt DR. Influence of chronic hyperglycemia on the loss of the unfolded protein response in transplanted islets. J Mol Endocrinol 2013; 51:225-32.
