Dr Scott Willis

Dr Scott Willis is a Research Fellow in the Leicester Lifestyle and Health Research Group, based within the Diabetes Research Centre at the University of Leicester. He also contributes to the Lifestyle theme of the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre.

Scott’s work sits at the intersection of lifestyle (including physical activity, exercise, and nutrition), pharmacotherapy, and obesity-related chronic diseases. More specifically, he is interested in how these interventions can interact and be used to prevent, manage, and treat conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).

Scott completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies at Loughborough University, culminating in a PhD in Exercise, Nutrition and Metabolism in 2020. He subsequently spent over 5 years working as a Research Associate in Exercise, Nutrition and Obesity-related Chronic Disease at Loughborough University and within the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, before joining the University of Leicester in 2025.

Alongside his research, Scott teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students, supervises research projects and supports the development of early career researchers. Scott is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and holds a Visiting Fellow in Exercise Physiology and Metabolic Health post at Loughborough University.

Scott has expertise in exercise physiology, nutrition, and metabolic health, and his area of research broadly encompasses lifestyle, pharmacotherapy, and obesity-related chronic disease.

More specifically, his research seeks to understand mechanisms linking obesity to associated metabolic disease such as type 2 diabetes and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD; formerly NAFLD). As part of this, his research investigates how lifestyle (including exercise and diet) and/or pharmaceutical interventions can be used to prevent, manage, and treat these diseases.

Current research projects include:

• OPAL - Investigating and Optimising Physical Function with Weight Loss: A Multi-Arm Open Label Adaptive Platform Trial.
• The role of ectopic lipid quantity and quality (composition) in obesity-related chronic diseases.
• The interaction between lifestyle, genetics, and ethnicity in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).
• The relationship of cardiorespiratory fitness, physical activity, and sedentary behaviour with adipose tissue insulin resistance and metabolic health.
• Hepatokines as novel mechanisms linking obesity-related liver disease and metabolic dysfunction: the influence of exercise and diet.

Scott is open to collaboration within any of these broad research areas.

Scott has published over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles and his full publication profile can be found on Google Scholar. Selected publications are below:

1. Willis SA, Deighton K, Goodwin C, et al. Cardiorespiratory fitness is inversely associated with non-invasive markers of hepatic steatosis and fibrosis: a cross-sectional study of 39,197 UK adults. BMC Gastroenterology. 2026. Online ahead of print.
2. Willis SA, Alruwaili A, Hartescu I, et al. Associations of self-reported sleep quality and duration with dietary eating behaviours: a cross-sectional study of 27,263 UK adults. Appetite. 2026;108428.
3. Willis SA, Malaikah S, Bawden SJ, et al. Greater hepatic lipid saturation is associated with impaired glycaemic regulation in men with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease but is not altered by six weeks of exercise training. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. 2024;26:4030–4042.
4. Willis SA, Malaikah S, Parry S, et al. The effect of acute and chronic exercise on hepatic lipid composition. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. 2023;33:550–568.
5. Sherry AP, Willis SA, Yates T, et al. Physical activity is inversely associated with hepatic fibro-inflammation: a population-based cohort study using UK Biobank data. JHEP Reports. 2023;5:100622.
6. Malaikah S, Willis SA, Henson J, et al. Associations of objectively measured physical activity, sedentary time and cardiorespiratory fitness with adipose tissue insulin resistance and ectopic fat. International Journal of Obesity. 2023;47:1000–1007.
7. Sargeant JA, King JA, Yates T, et al. The effects of empagliflozin, dietary energy restriction, or both on appetite-regulatory gut peptides in individuals with type 2 diabetes and overweight or obesity: the SEESAW randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. 2022;24(8):1509–1521.
8. Engin B, Willis SA, Malaikah S, et al. The effect of exercise training on adipose tissue insulin sensitivity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity Reviews. 2022;23(7):e13445.
9. Willis SA, Bawden SJ, Malaikah S, et al. The role of hepatic lipid composition in obesity-related metabolic disease. Liver International. 2021;41(12):2819–2835.
10. Willis SA, Sargeant JA, Yates T, et al. Acute hyperenergetic, high-fat feeding increases circulating FGF21, LECT2 and fetuin-A in healthy men. The Journal of Nutrition. 2020;150(5):1076–1085.
11. Willis SA, Sargeant JA, Thackray AE, et al. Effect of exercise intensity on circulating hepatokine concentrations in healthy men. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. 2019;44(10):1065–1072.
12. Sargeant JA, Gray LJ, Bodicoat DH, et al. The effect of exercise training on intrahepatic triglyceride and hepatic insulin sensitivity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity Reviews. 2018;19(10):1446–1459.

Scott supervises undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral research across the areas of exercise physiology, obesity, metabolic health, appetite regulation, movement behaviours, and chronic disease. He also welcomes enquiries from prospective students interested in any of these broad areas.

Current doctoral supervision includes:

Ansuman Swain, Loughborough University

Co-supervisor, 2024 – Present

How does obesity and diabetes risk vary according to the combinations of lifestyle behaviours (physical activity, diet, smoking, alcohol, and sleep)? A multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy (MAIHDA) project

Anna Minto, Ulster University

Co-supervisor, 2024 – Present

The effects of exercise timing and duration on energy compensations and weight loss in overweight and obesity

Helena Luck, Loughborough University

Co-supervisor, 2026 – Present

E-cigarettes, vaping & appetite control: mapping the evidence and unpicking interactive mechanisms

Completed doctoral supervision includes:

Dr Arwa Alruwaili, Loughborough University

Co-supervisor, 2021 – 2024

Interaction between smoking, lean mass and appetite regulation

Scott contributes to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in lifestyle medicine, exercise physiology, metabolic health and chronic disease.

At the University of Leicester, he currently teaches on the Diabetes MSc programme, including the delivery of lectures for the Clinical Obesity module.

He also delivers lectures externally to institutions such as Loughborough University and Ulster University on BSc Sport and Exercise Science, MSc Exercise Physiology and Nutrition, and MSc Clinical Exercise Physiology programmes. These lectures have covered the following topics:

• Exercise Prescription
• Chronic Liver Disease
• Ectopic Lipids & MASLD
• Current Research in Exercise Physiology

Scott contributes to a range of academic, editorial, professional and collaborative activities.

He is currently an Editorial Board member for the International Journal of Obesity, and has served as a peer reviewer for numerous academic journals including: Cardiovascular Diabetology, Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, Obesity Reviews, European Journal of Nutrition, European Journal of Sport Science, British Journal of Nutrition, Journal of Sport Sciences, Nutrition Research Reviews, Nutrients, Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology and Diabetes, BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Furthermore, he regularly disseminates his research at national and international conferences such as the European Congress on Obesity, the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting, the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences annual conference and the Diabetes UK Professional Conference.

Scott has also acted as an external grant reviewer for Diabetes UK and has given the following external invited talks:

• Location, location, location: Understanding why all fat is not equal; Healthcare Professional Lifestyle Education Series; 2021
• All fat is not equal; National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine Public Lecture Series; 2021

   

  Professional memberships include:

• Society for Endocrinology
• The Physiological Society
• British Association for the Study of the Liver (BASL)
• European Group for the Study of Insulin Resistance
• European Association for the Study of Obesity MASLD Study Group
• Energy Metabolism and Appetite Network

• PhD in Exercise, Nutrition and Metabolism – Loughborough University

Thesis: Hepatokines and hepatic lipids: interaction with exercise, diet and metabolic health

• MSc Exercise Physiology – Loughborough University

• BSc Sport and Exercise Science – Loughborough University

• Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)