Professor Paul Fowler

Biography

Following his BSc Hons and PhD in Zoology, Professor Fowler worked on ovarian hormones in Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Aberdeen. In 2000, he moved to the University of Aberdeen’s Institute of Medical Sciences and was its director for 6 years (2015-21). His work elucidates mechanisms regulating/dysregulating reproduction and development. He has over 170 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and co-authored numerous European Food Standards Agency opinions. Since 2000, his research focused principally on effects of environmental/lifestyle exposures, including maternal smoking, obesity, and medication use. This aims to understand disruption of fetal development and health, principally using normal first and second trimester human fetus. Since 2009 he has led/participated in 4 large EU research programmes studying endocrine disruption and received MRC, BBSRC, Wellcome Trust, charities and PARC (Partnership of the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals, 2022-2029) funding. In 2023 he was awarded the Anne McLaren Distinguished Scientist award by the Society for Reproduction & Fertility.

Prizes and Awards

FRSB, 2010

Research Overview

Since the breakthrough epidemiological studies of the 1980s it has been clear that adult human health is dependent upon fetal development and fetal programming (‘early life programming’). Fetal growth restriction, for example, can lead to hypertension, type 2 diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease in the adult. This fetal programming is also termed "Developmental Origins of Health and Disease" (DOHaD) or "Fetal Origins of Adult Disease. Dysfunctional changes in the fetus can arise through a range of mechanisms, such as:

• maternal cigarette smoking
• maternal obesity
• maternal deprivation
• maternal nutrition
• maternal environmental pollutant exposure (such as air pollution)
• maternal medication use

We are studying these factors primarily in the human itself, by studying fetuses aborted for non-medical reasons. This is supported by the SAFeR Study (Scottish Advanced Fetal Research study). The health trajectory of an individual offspring is likely to depend upon a range of maternal and lifestyle factors, including the chemical burden carried at birth. Fetal pollutant exposure has clear adverse effects on development but we have very little knowledge about levels of fetal exposure to “real-life” complex pollutant cocktails and developmental consequences. This fundamental lack of knowledge is a major impasse to developing strategies for reducing fetal pollutant burdens and predicting likely health outcomes. Available data is limited, and often indirect (i.e. animal models or surrogates of exposure), but all studies suggest that fetal pollutant exposure affects lifelong health outcomes and, thereby, impacts on the general economy.

As well as laboratory-based studies of the human fetus my group has also become involved in epidemiological studies in the same field. Our intention with this move is to improve linkage between the individual fetus/mother (laboratory) and population-wide (epidemiology) analyses of maternal environment/lifestyle effects on the fetus and its future health.

Our aim is to understand how maternal factors disturb human fetal development, leading to offspring with greater risk of adverse health outcomes.

Our objective is to identify mechanisms linking these maternal factors with sub-optimal fetal development and lifelong health burdens.

Current Research

Current Team

• Dr Laetitia Lecants (post-doc)
• Dr Peng Liu (post-doc)
• Ms Ausra Lionikiene(Research technician)
• Mr Jimmy Marsden (PhD student)
• Cosupervised PhD students: Katharina Kusse (Prof Val Speirs 1°) & Francesca Moramarco (Prof Peter McCaffery 1°)

RECENT MEMBERS

• Dr Pan Filis (post-doc)
• Dr Natasha Walker (PhD in my lab funded Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity)
• Dr Chiara Talia (PhD in my lab funded by EU MSCA-ITN PROTECTED)
• Dr Aikaterini Zafeiri (EASTBIO PhD student)
• Dr Claire Walker (Research technician)

Recent Visiting Scientists

• Mr Ajay Yadav, 3 months secondment as part of PROTECTED MSCA-ITN, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Oslo, Norway
• Ms Laetitia Lecante (3 months visit, Universite de Rennes 1, Rennes, France, PhD student)
• Mr Glen Gauderat (3 months on Royal Society grant: Ecole Nationale Veterinaire de Toulouse, France, PhD student)
• Ms Hanna Johansson (Technical University of Denmark, PhD student)

Current Project Highlight

Recent plenary and invited presentations

• Maternal exposure to air pollution nanoparticles and adverse birth outcomes. CHE (Collaborative on Health and the Environment) Webinar https://www.healthandenvironment.org/webinars/96654 19 January 2023.
• Laying the foundations for future life and reproduction. Distinguished Scientist (Anne McLaren) Award Lecture. Fertility 2023, Belfast, 10-13 January 2023.
• Toxicants and maternal lifestyle disturb human fetal developmental programming. Society for Reproductive Investigation Annual Conference, Fetal Physiology Satellite meeting, Boston, July 2021.
• Exposure to the complex mixture of environmental chemicals found in human biosolids. Virtual University of Michigan Symposium on Chemical Mixtures, 12 February 2021.
• Maternal lifestyle, endocrine disruption and the developing fetus. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 19 February 2020, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
• Preparing for a healthy life – maternal lifestyle and fetal programming. Toxalim, 12 October 2018, Toulouse, France.
• Effect of prenatal exposure to environmental toxins on female reproduction. Fertility 2018, 4-6 January 2018, Liverpool, UK.
• Evidence for EDC involvement in reproductive dysfunction in women. Invited seminar at PhD Course in Reproductive Toxicology, Centre for Reproductive Biology in Uppsala (CRU) and Swedish Toxicological Sciences Research Centre (SWETOX), 12-16 June 2016, Uppsala, Sweden.
• Real-world chemical mixtures disturb fetal endocrine systems and gonad development humans and animal models. Symposium: “Mixtures, medicines and diet, where now for endocrine disrupting compounds?” ECE2016: European Congress of Endocrinology, 28-31 May 2016, Munich, Germany.
• Effects of in-utero exposure to toxicants on the fetal gonad and liver. Invited seminar, BIOSIT, combined University of Rennes, CNRS & INSERM unit, 9 November 2015, Rennes, France.
• Sex, drugs, oestrogens and the human fetus. Invited public talk, Aberdeen Medico-Chirurgical Society, 1 October 2015, Aberdeen, UK.
• New insights into human fetal development: endogenous oestrogens, maternal smoking and gene methylation. 8^th Copenhagen Workshop of Endocrine Disrupters, 27-30 April 2015, Copenhagen, Denmark.
• Environmental factors in sex differences and metabolism. ESE basic Endocrinology Course in reproductive Endocrinology, 18-20 February 2015, Edinburgh, UK.
• The exposed proteome. Understanding biology and disease: the application of proteomics. University of Aberdeen Symposium, 9 December 2014, Aberdeen, UK. Regulation and dysregulation of primordial follicle formation and activation. 3^rd World Congress of Reproductive Biology, 2-4 September 2014, Edinburgh, UK.
• Environmental chemicals and fetal development. 2^ieme Journee des Jeunes Chercheurs de L’IRSET, February 4^th 2014, University of Rennes, France.
• On women and sheep: making and breaking the fetal ovary. INRA, 13 December 2013, Jouy-en-Josas, France.
• The evidence for EDC involvement in reproductive dysfunction in women. International Workshop: Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Female Reproduction. 5-6 November 2013, Uppsala, Sweden.
• Environment and endocrine disruptors in fetal reproductive development.  IfLS Conference: Reproductive Biology – from gametes to systems, and between generations. 17 September 2013, Southampton, UK.
• Human fetal reproductive development and endocrinology: effects of maternal smoking. 7^th Copenhagen Workshop of Endocrine Disrupters, 28-31 May 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark.
• Impact of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) on female reproductive health. Fertility 2013, Liverpool, January 3-5 2013.
• Effects of exposure to environmental chemicals during pregnancy on the development of the male and female reproductive access“. 17^th International Congress on Animal Reproduction (ICAR 29012) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, July 29 – August 2, 2012.

Knowledge Exchange

Public Engagement

1. Maternal exposure to air pollution nanoparticles and adverse birth outcomes. CHE (Collaborative on Health and the Environment) Webinar https://www.healthandenvironment.org/webinars/96654 19 January 2023.
2. “The Truth About Fetal Tissue Research”, Nature 528, 2015.
3. “Mother’s Smoking During Pregnancy Affects Baby’s DNA”, Scientific American, April 2016.
4. “Science Unwrapped: Fertility”, /BBC Radio programme http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04vvspr and Naked Scientists podcast “Is modern life affecting fertility?” https://www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/naked-scientists/modern-life-reducing-our-fertility  21st March 2017.
5. “Move over testosterone, another hormone is also vital for making boys – and it doesn’t come from the testes” The Conversation 14/02/2019
6. PODCAST: Hormones: The Inside Story. Series 1: Episode 6 https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/hormones-the-inside-story/id1538409023?i=1000501691883 . Also see https://www.yourhormones.info/podcast, Society for Endocrinology.
7. Naked Scientists “Endocrine disruptors and fertility” BBC Radio interview & podcast, 26/02/2021 https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/interviews/endocrine-disruptors-and-fertility

Press Releases

• £6m study on impact of environment on immune system in unborn babies and young children
• Top award for Professor Fowler 
• 'Painkiller advice for pregnant women should always be followed' as use linked to newborn problems
• What makes a man? Testosterone only half the story
• Aberdeen scientists to pioneer safety tests for household chemicals harming female fertility
• Smoking in pregnancy linked to “worrying” thyroid changes in unborn baby
• Premature babies' low blood pressure puzzle explained
• Girls inherit smoking miscarriage risk
• Scientists find that smoking harms livers of unborn babies
• Chemicals in household products linked to £1bn in European women's health care costs
• Agricultural fertiliser could pose risk to human fertility, sheep study finds
• Smoking while pregnant affects the livers of boys and girdl differenty
• Gender divide for health risk to babies of smoking mothers: Sunday Herald Scotland
• Smoke gets in your genes: Further dangers of smoking while pregnant revealed by new study
• Smoking damage to foetus detected from 12 weeks: Sunday Herald Scotland
• Scientists to investigate impact of smoking and drinking on the developing liver
• Science Careers: adding sex- and gender- dimensions to your research
• Chemicals in environment 'damaging male fertility'
• Pregnancy smoking fertility link
• Smoking Moms Risk Daughters’ Fertility
• Increase in breast cancer linked to pollution levels
• Human sewage harms sheep foetuses
• Findings: Sex change mongooses

Collaborations

• Prof Richard Anderson MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
• Dr Jean-Philippe Antignac SARAF, Nantes-Atantique National College of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science & Engineering (ONIRIS), Nantes, France
• Dr Michelle Bellingham Institute of Biodiversity Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Scotland
• Prof Siladitya Bhattacharya OBGYN, University of Aberdeen, Scotland
• Dr Lisa Connolly, School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, UK
• Dr Corinne Cotinot INRA, Jouy en Josas, France
• Dr Amanda Drake Child Life and Health/MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
• Prof Colin Duncan MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
• Prof Neil Evans Institute of Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Scotland
• Prof Bernd Fischer Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, Martin Luther University faculty of Medicine, Halle, Germany
• Prof Veronique Gayrard TOXALIM, Ecole Nationale Veterinaire de Toulouse, France
• Dr Kais Al-Gubory INRA, Jouy en Josas, France
• Dr David Hay Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
• Dr Sabine Hombach-Klonisch Human Anatomy & Cell Science, University of Manitoba, Canada
• Prof Ilpo Huhtaniemi Reproductive Biology, Imperial College London, UK
• Dr Marilyn Huestis National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, USA
• Prof John Iredale MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
• Prof Thomas Klonisch Human Anatomy & Cell Science, University of Manitoba, Canada
• Prof Bruno Le Bizec LABERCA, Nantes-Atantique National College of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science & Engineering (ONIRIS), Nantes, France
• Dr Richard Lea School of Veterinary Medicine & Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonnington, UK
• Prof Philippa Saunders MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
• Prof Peter O'Shaughnessy Institute of Biodiversity Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Scotland
• Dr Paola Pocar Unit of Veterinary Anatomy &Histology, University of Milan, Italy
• Dr Mick Rae School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland
• Prof Erik Ropstad Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, University of Oslo, Norway
• Prof Richard Sharpe MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
• Prof Kevin Sinclair School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonnington, UK
• Prof Anne Marie Vinggaard Division of Toxicology & Risk Assessment, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark

• Grateful thanks to Dr Stewart Rhind (James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, Scotland) for the years of friendship and collaboration before his untimely death.

Funding and Grants

Career total = £24 million

major grants:

2007-10      Wellcome Trust (080388) Effect of in-utero exposure to environmental chemicals via maternal pasture ingestion on fetal development. £426k [PI: collaboration with Macaulay, Edinburgh, Glasgow & INRA]

2008-12      European Commission FP7 (212855) Reproductive effects of environmental chemicals in females (REEF). £2,646k. (PI: collaboration with Macaulay, Edinburgh, INRA, Nottingham, Martin-Luther, Milan]

2009-11      Chief Scientist Office (CZB/4/742) Bioincubator system to model toxic effects on the human fetal testis. £62k [PI]

2014-17      MRC (L010011/1) The human fetal liver: development and response to maternal drug use. £589k [PI: collaboration with Glasgow, Edinburgh]

2014-18      MRC DTP (K501335/1) Development of the human fetal adrenal gland and effects of maternal smoking. £63k [CoI: Bellingham, Glasgow is PI]

2016-19      Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity (YRSS/PHD/2016/05) Maternal smoking, drinking and deprivation: when and how of placental damage. £60k [PI: collaboration with Glasgow]

2017-21      European Commission H2020 MSCA-ITN (722634) PROTECTion against Endocrine Disruptors; detection, mixtures, health effects, risk assessment and communication (PROTECTED). £3,152k [CoI: Connolly Queen’s Belfast is PI]

2017-20      MRC (L011535/1) Sex-specific disease aetiology from developmental steroid insults: mechanistic understanding and biomarker development towards disease prevention. £637k [CoI: Rae, Edinburgh is PI]

2017-21      BBSRC EASTBIO DTP Mechanisms via which the human fetus is at risk from over-the-counter analgesics. £97k [PI: collaboration with Edinburgh]

2018-21      Arthritis Research UK (21800) Unlocking the joint morphogenetic code in mesenchymal stem cells from human synovium. £328k [CoI: De Bari is PI]

2019-24      European Commission H2020 (825100) Female Reproductive toxicity of Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs): a human evidence-based screening and Identification Approach (FREIA). £5,217k [CoI: van Duursen, VU Amsterdam, is PI]

2022-25     Cunningham Trust (PhD-CT-21-18) Discovery of retinoic acid receptor control of stress granules as a treatment for neurodegenerative diseases. £97k [CoI: Mccaffery, Aberdeen, is PI]

2022-25     BCUK  (2122029) Evaluating the effects of BPA on breast cancer development. £99k [CoI: Speirs, Aberdeen, is PI]

2022-25     MRC (MR/W015439/1) Towards a novel treatment targeting obesity in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. £380k [CoI: Duncan, Edinburgh, is PI]

2022-29     European Commission, Horizon Europe (10045444) Partnership for the assessment of risks from chemicals (PARC). €400 million cofund [CoI: ANSES+199 other institutions/agencies]

2023-27    European Commission, Horizon Europe (101094099) Inflammation in human early life: targeting impacts on life-course health (INITIALISE). £6,209k [CoI: Oresic, University of Turku is PI]

Teaching Responsibilities

Honours and MSc students undertake research projects in my lab.

Non-course Teaching Responsibilities

I usually have 9 tutees at any one time.