51cg

Biography

March 2025 - present Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor), 51cg, Aberdeen, UK

September 2022-February 2025 Senior Research Fellow, 51cg, Aberdeen, UK

September 2019-August 2022 Independent Research Fellow, 51cg, Aberdeen, UK

July 2017-August 2019 Post-Doc Research Fellow, 51cg, Aberdeen, UK

March 2017-June 2017 Research Assistant, 51cg, Aberdeen, UK

2013-2017 PhD Biological Sciences, 51cg, Aberdeen, UK

2011-2013 MSc Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen, the Netherlands

2008-2011 BSc Nutrition and Dietetics, Vives - University of Applied Sciences, Bruges, Belgium

Prizes and Awards

Nominated for Public Engagement with Research Award (2026), 51cg Principal’s Prizes

Nominated for Excellence in Equality, Diversity & Sustainability Award (2022), 51cg Principal’s Prizes; led successful award of Silver Athena SWAN accreditation (2022)

Research Overview

Welcome to the Derous lab! We focus on how environmental stressors impact the metabolism of species and in turn can lead to physiological changes. We take a system-wide approach and analyse changes across different biological scales by:

• Using high-throughput molecular assays to assess changes on a cellular level (e.g., genes, proteins, metabolites) across different organs of species and use network biology approaches to gain further insights into the complex regulation of molecules.
• Measuring changes on a physiological level with a variety of different methods (e.g., hormones, sugar levels)
• Assessing whether this is reflected on a whole-body level of an organism (e.g., behaviour, reproductive output).

Current Research

Impact of diet type and nutrient availability on reproduction and physiological trade-offs

The optimal allocation of energy resources to maintain fitness levels depends on nutrient availability. When food is limited, an animal may conserve their energy reserves to increase their current survival until more food can be found. A way to do this is to trade-off between survival, reproduction and other physiological processes. Many species have shown that when food is limited, their reproduction rate reduces. The exact mechanisms regulating these processes are still not entirely clear. As such, a large part of the lab's research is focused on understanding fundamental biological mechanisms behind these physiological trade-offs and the fasting response. In addition, we also focus on understanding the biological basis of healthy ageing and metabolic resilience, contributing to a healthier and more resilient population in a changing climate.

Examples of research output:

• Graded calorie restriction series led by Prof John Speakman and Dr Sharon Mitchell of the Energetics Research Group
• Unique fasting response in bottlenose dolphins led by Dr Dorian Houser and Prof David Lusseau:  
• Pregnancy rates in minke whales by PhD student Devonne Gardiner (Leverhulme funded) and led by Dr Joanna Kershaw:
• Trade-offs in overcrowded fruit flies led by Dr Juliano Morimoto:

Evolutionary adaptations in key metabolic processes

Metabolism is central to the day-to-day functioning of a species and certain animals have evolved specific mechanisms to deal with extreme/harsh environments. Evolution is a dynamic process that happened over many generations and understanding those key changes on a molecular level allows us to ask important questions of how animals may respond to stressors and what it may mean for their conservation. For example, nutrient shortage caused by anthropogenic stressors may have a more detrimental impact on one species than on another.

Examples of research output:

• Comparing genomes of several dolphin/whales species to outgroups with a focus on genes related to nutrient signalling in collaboration with Dr Marius Wenzel:  

Environmental stressors impacting marine mammals and novel biomarker discovery

Porpoises, dolphins, and whales (i.e., cetaceans) face many environmental challenges. These challenges, referred to as environmental stressors, are often caused by humans and are emerging as conservation threats for many cetacean species. The health and nutritional status of cetaceans is assessed by the amount of fat in their blubber (the fat layer under the skin). However, cetaceans have evolved to have thickened blubber, and the stored fat in the blubber is not only used as an energy source but also plays a key role in thermoregulation and buoyancy control. We therefore need to understand how environmental stressors influence cetacean energy metabolism and physiology. We can then create novel health markers to assess cetacean health.

Examples of research output:

• Review on the impacts of climate change in collaboration with Anna Kebke and Dr Filipa Samarra 
• Review on biomarkers for health in cetaceans in collaboration with the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme:
• Proteomics profiling in free-ranging baleen whales for biomarker discovery led by Dr Joanna Kershaw:
• Protein degradation in bottlenose dolphins when in poorer health led by Prof David Lusseau and Prof Pratricia Fair: 
• Review on marine mammals in the anthropocene led by Dr Emily Hague:
• Establishing proteomics as a tool in stranded cetaceans in collaboration with the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme
• Contribution to Government documentation on the 2023 long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas) mass stranding event 

Using non-model organisms to combat human diseases

Uncovering the biological mechanisms behind human diseases (e.g., diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases) and then identify a “molecular fingerprint” associated with those diseases is the first step towards translational medicine. Despite the recent advances in human diseases, we still struggle to find effective ways to treat them. Some non-model species have remarkable capacities to deal with for examples wounds or large amounts of fat. By using comparative physiology, we can identify unique processes in non-model species that can help us develop treatments for human diseases. 

Funding and Grants

• Royal Society of Edinburgh: Small research grant - PI (£5k Sept 2025-Aug 2026): "Metabolic dysfunction of fatty liver in harbour porpoises: a step towards measuring resilience of a key species in our changing ocean"
• 51cg Grand Academy: Bid development - Co-I (£9,9k Apr 2023 - Sept 2023): "Valuable in death? Assessing molecular changes through blubber tissue decomposition in marine mammals with implications for use of stranded animals in research"
• Leverhulme Trust grant - PI (£215k, Sept 2022-Sept 2026): "Characterising the impact of environmental stressors on cetacean metabolism"
• 51cg Grand Academy: Internal Pump-Prime funding for interdisciplinary research - PI (£10.6k, Nov 2021-Oct 2022): "Using the rapid regenerative response of the beadlet anemone (Actinia equina) as model system for human wound healing"
• 51cg Grand Academy: Internal Pump-Prime funding for interdisciplinary research - PI (£9.8k, June 2021-Dec 2021): "A holistic approach towards identifying the phenotypic plasticity and resilience response to environmental stress in the intertidal zone"
• Marine Alliance Science Technology Scotland “Emerging from Lockdown” Award - PI (£4.6k, May 2021-Dec 2021): "Proteomic approach to characterise the functional differences between blubber layers in harbour porpoises"
• NERC Environmental Omics Facility (NEOF) Early Career Researcher pilot grant - PI (£8.9k, May 2021-Dec 2021): "Towards identifying the epigenomic basis of resilience to environmental stress"
• The Icelandic Research Fund Project grant - Co-I (£306k, Sept 2021-Aug 2024): “The role of ecosystem stability for the ecological specialisation of marine top predators”
• ACU Early Career Conference Grant to attend the 6th International Marine Conservation Congress (June 2020)
• 51cg Grant Academy: core facility vouchers - PI (£2.6k, Feb 2020-Jul 2020): "Linking the energy status of stranded cetaceans to their cause of death"
• Centre for Genome Enabled Biology and Medicine PhD studentship (£66.5k, Sept 2013 - Feb 2017): "Multi-tissue transcriptomic analysis of graded calorie restriction in the mouse"

Teaching Responsibilities

• BI1512 Diversity of Life 2  (2023-present, course coordinator)
• BI2510 Comparative Physiology 1  (2022-present)
• BI25Z5 Fundamentals of Marine Biology (2025-present)
• BI3512 Comparative Physiology 2  (2022-present, course coordinator)
• ZO4834 One Health: links between humans, environmental and animal health (2025-present)
• ZO4820 Marine Biodiversity (2021-2023)
• Supervision UGT/PGT/PGR/PhD student projects