Dr Belinda Yau
School of Medical Sciences
Faculty of Medicine and Health
Belinda Yau graduated from the University of Sydney with a B. MedSci in 2011, and Ph.D in Medicine in 2015 for her research in immune-modulating pathways of the brain in pneumococcal meningitis under the supervision of Professor Nicholas Hunt. She is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Islet Biology and Metabolism laboratory under the mentorship of Dr. Melkam Kebede. Her research focuses on the insulin secretory pathway, understanding how insulin granules age and function in both health and metabolic disease, and investigating novel proteins in the trafficking network that governs insulin granule biogenesis.
Primary supervision of Honours student Nicholas Norris (Honours I, 2020)
Publications
Journals
- Diaz Vegas, A., Cooke, K., Cutler, H., Yau, B., Masson, S., Harney, D., Fuller, O., Potter, M., Madsen, S., Craw, N., Zhang, Y., Moreno, C., Kebede, M., Neely, G., Stoeckli, J., Burchfield, J., James, D. (2024). Deletion of miPEP in adipocytes protects against obesity and insulin resistance by boosting muscle metabolism. Molecular Metabolism, 86. [More Information]
- Yau, B., Madsen, S., Nelson, M., Cooke, K., Fritzen, A., Thorius, I., Stoeckli, J., James, D., Kebede, M. (2024). Genetics and diet shape the relationship between islet function and whole body metabolism. American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism, 326(5), E663-E672. [More Information]
- Thillainadesan, S., Jiang, B., Kebede, M., Morahan, G., James, D., Madsen, S., Hocking, S., Lambert, A., Cooke, K., Stoeckli, J., Yau, B., Masson, S., Howell, A., Potter, M., Fuller, O. (2024). The metabolic consequences of ‘yo-yo’ dieting are markedly influenced by genetic diversity. International Journal of Obesity, 48(8), 1170-1179. [More Information]
2024
- Diaz Vegas, A., Cooke, K., Cutler, H., Yau, B., Masson, S., Harney, D., Fuller, O., Potter, M., Madsen, S., Craw, N., Zhang, Y., Moreno, C., Kebede, M., Neely, G., Stoeckli, J., Burchfield, J., James, D. (2024). Deletion of miPEP in adipocytes protects against obesity and insulin resistance by boosting muscle metabolism. Molecular Metabolism, 86. [More Information]
- Yau, B., Madsen, S., Nelson, M., Cooke, K., Fritzen, A., Thorius, I., Stoeckli, J., James, D., Kebede, M. (2024). Genetics and diet shape the relationship between islet function and whole body metabolism. American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism, 326(5), E663-E672. [More Information]
- Thillainadesan, S., Jiang, B., Kebede, M., Morahan, G., James, D., Madsen, S., Hocking, S., Lambert, A., Cooke, K., Stoeckli, J., Yau, B., Masson, S., Howell, A., Potter, M., Fuller, O. (2024). The metabolic consequences of ‘yo-yo’ dieting are markedly influenced by genetic diversity. International Journal of Obesity, 48(8), 1170-1179. [More Information]
2023
- Thai, L., O'Reilly, L., Reibe-Pal, S., Sue, N., Holliday, H., Small, L., Schmitz-Peiffer, C., Dhenni, R., Wang-Wei Tsai, V., Norris, N., Kebede, M., Cooney, G., et al (2023). β-cell function is regulated by metabolic and epigenetic programming of islet-associated macrophages, involving Axl, Mertk, and TGFβ receptor signaling. iScience, 26(4). [More Information]
2022
- Brandon, A., Small, L., Nguyen, T., Suryana, E., Gong, H., Yassmin, C., Hancock, S., Pulpitel, T., Stonehouse, S., Prescott, L., Kebede, M., Yau, B., Quek, L., Cooney, G., et al (2022). Insulin sensitivity is preserved in mice made obese by feeding a high starch diet. eLife, 11, Article e79250-19 pages. [More Information]
2021
- Wali, J., Milner, A., Luk, A., Pulpitel, T., Dodgson, T., Facey, H., Wahl, D., Kebede, M., Senior, A., Sullivan, M., Brandon, A., Yau, B., Lockwood, G., Koay, Y., Ribeiro, R., Solon-Biet, S., Bell-Anderson, K., O'Sullivan, J., Macia, L., Cooney, G., Cogger, V., Holmes, A., Raubenheimer, D., Le Couteur, D., Simpson, S., et al (2021). Impact of dietary carbohydrate type and protein–carbohydrate interaction on metabolic health. Nature Metabolism, 3(6), 810-828. [More Information]
- Germanos, M., Gao, A., Taper, M., Yau, B., Kebede, M. (2021). Inside the Insulin Secretory Granule. Metabolites, 11(8), 515-1-515-32. [More Information]
- Yau, B., Kebede, M. (2021). Islet biology and metabolism. Metabolites, 11(11), 786. [More Information]
2020
- Yau, B., Hays, L., Liang, C., Laybutt, D., Thomas, H., Gunton, J., Williams, L., Hawthorne, W., Thorn, P., Rhodes, C., Kebede, M. (2020). A fluorescent timer reporter enables sorting of insulin secretory granules by age. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 295(27), 8901-8911. [More Information]
- Ma, W., Chang, J., Tong, J., Ho, U., Yau, B., Kebede, M., Thorn, P. (2020). Arp2/3 nucleates F-actin coating of fusing insulin granules in pancreatic b cells to control insulin secretion. Journal of Cell Science, 133(6), 1-11. [More Information]
2019
- Stoeckli, J., Zadoorian, A., Cooke, K., Deshpande, V., Yau, B., Kebede, M., Humphrey, S., James, D. (2019). ABHD15 regulates adipose tissue lipolysis and hepatic lipid accumulation. Molecular Metabolism, 25, 83-94. [More Information]
- Solon-Biet, S., Cogger, V., Pulpitel, T., Wahl, D., Clark, X., Bagley, E., Gregoriou, G., Senior, A., Wang, Q., Brandon, A., Perks, R., O'Sullivan, J., Koay, Y., Bell-Anderson, K., Kebede, M., Yau, B., Atkinson, C., Dodgson, T., Wali, J., Raubenheimer, D., Cooney, G., Le Couteur, D., Simpson, S., et al (2019). Branched-chain amino acids impact health and lifespan indirectly via amino acid balance and appetite control. Nature Metabolism, 1(5), 532-545. [More Information]
- Wali, J., Milner, A., Pulpitel, T., Koay, Y., Brandon, A., Kebede, M., Dodgson, T., O'Sullivan, M., Wahl, D., Yau, B., O'Sullivan, J., Solon-Biet, S., Cooney, G., Cogger, V., Le Couteur, D., Simpson, S., et al (2019). Determining the metabolic impact of dietary carbohydrate composition in the setting of low, medium and high protein diets. Obesity Research & Clinical Practice, 13(3), 296. [More Information]
2018
- Yau, B., Hunt, N., Mitchell, A., Too, L. (2018). Blood-Brain Barrier Pathology and CNS Outcomes in Streptococcus pneumoniae Meningitis. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 19(11), E3555. [More Information]
- Burchfield, J., Kebede, M., Meoli, C., Stoeckli, J., Whitworth, P., Wright, A., Hoffman, N., Minard, A., Ma, X., Krycer, J., Nelson, M., Yau, B., Cooke, K., Cooney, G., James, D., Fazakerley, D., et al (2018). High dietary fat and sucrose results in an extensive and time-dependent deterioration in health of multiple physiological systems in mice. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 293(15), 5731-5745. [More Information]
2017
- Shen, W., Yau, B., Lee, S., Zhu, L., Yam, M., Gillies, M. (2017). Effects of Ranibizumab and Aflibercept on Human Muller Cells and Photoreceptors under Stress Conditions. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 18(3), 1-16. [More Information]
- Yau, B., Too, L., Ball, H., Hunt, N. (2017). TIGR4 strain causes more severe disease than WU2 strain in a mouse model of Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis: A common pathogenic role for interferon-(gamma). Microbes and Infection, 19(7-8), 413-421. [More Information]
2016
- Yau, B., Mitchell, A., Too, L., Ball, H., Hunt, N. (2016). Interferon-y-induced nitric oxide synthase-2 contributes to blood/brain barrier dysfunction and acute mortality in experimental streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis. Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research, 36(2), 86-99. [More Information]
2015
- Guo, J., McQuillan, J., Yau, B., Tullo, G., Long, C., Bertolino, P., Roediger, B., Weninger, W., Taylor, G., Hunt, N., Ball, H., et al (2015). IRGM3 Contributes to Immunopathology and Is Required for Differentiation of Antigen-Specific Effector CD8 T Cells in Experimental Cerebral Malaria. Infection and Immunity, 83(4), 1406-1417. [More Information]
2014
- Too, L., Mitchell, A., Yau, B., Ball, H., McGregor, I., Hunt, N. (2014). Interleukin-18 deficiency and its long-term behavioural and cognitive impacts in a murine model of pneumococcal meningitis. Behavioural Brain Research, 263, 176-189. [More Information]
2012
- Mitchell, A., Yau, B., McQuillan, J., Ball, H., Too, L., Abtin, A., Hertzog, P., Leib, S., Jones, C., Gerega, S., Weninger, W., Hunt, N. (2012). Inflammasome-Dependent IFN-y Drives Pathogenesis in Streptococcus pneumoniae Meningitis. Journal of Immunology, 189(10), 4970-4980. [More Information]
Selected Grants
2024
- Professional Development Award 2024, Yau B, Charles Perkins Centre/Early to Mid-Career Researcher Professional Development
- Using insulin granule proteomics to create a peptide library for type 1 diabetes autoantigen screening, Yau B, Charles Perkins Centre/Type 1 Diabetes Seed Funding Grant
- Does Cab45 regulate proinsulin trafficking in pancreatic beta-cells?, Yau B, Charles Perkins Centre/Early-Mid Career Researcher Seed Funding Grant
2023
- FMH Bright Ideas Grant 2023, Yau B, Faculty of Medicine and Health/FMH Bright Ideas Grant 2023