Our research projects

Scientists have found a protein, called LRG1, plays a role in the early stages of eye damage in people with diabetes. Dr Giulia De Rossi wants to know how exactly this protein causes problems and if their new treatment that blocks it could help prevent eye damage. This could take us closer to better treatments that could be given earlier to protect the sight of people with diabetes. 

Eating foods high in fat has been linked to damage to the lining of the gut and changes in the balance of bacteria that live there. Researchers believe these changes may play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes, alongside a mix of other risk factors, but we still don’t fully understand how or why.  

Dr Natalie North and her team are investigating whether a natural molecule linked to a healthy gut can protect the body from the harmful effects of a high‑fat diet and help slow or prevent type 2 diabetes from developing. 

People living with diabetes are invited to attend routine eye screening appointments to protect their eye health. However, eye drops used during these visits can be uncomfortable and irritating and put people off attending. Professor Scanlon is testing whether a new camera can avoid the need for eye drops in Asian and African-Caribbean people. This research could protect more people from different ethnicities against diabetes-related eye damage. 

People living with diabetes are at risk of diabetic foot ulcers. These can lead to repeated infections, loss of independence, and even amputations. Dr Unnithan is testing whether a new type of smart wound dressing can accelerate healing in diabetic foot ulcers. The dressing could help protect people living with diabetes against the devastating consequences of this complication, improving their quality of life.

New treatments called immunotherapies target the immune system attack that causes type 1 diabetes. Professor Bhattacharya is testing a new approach to stopping this by preventing attacking immune cells from reaching the pancreas in the first place. This could help delay or prevent type 1 diabetes - and could improve the success of new treatments designed to replace lost insulin-making cells. 

Our cells have engines, called mitochondria, which power them. In insulin-making cells, the mitochondria tell the cells how and when to release insulin. When blood sugar levels are high, for example when someone has type 2 diabetes, this process stops working properly. Dr Aida Martinez-Sanchez wants to investigate why this happens by studying how the gene Mtfp1 plays a part how beta cell mitochondria behave. Understanding this could help researchers to develop better treatments that may stop type 2 diabetes from progressing.

Type 1 diabetes develops when a person’s immune system attacks and destroys their insulin-making beta cells. Dr Leete will study pancreas samples from people with type 1 diabetes to figure out why the immune system turns on beta cells, and how this process may differ between people, especially those diagnosed at different ages. In the future this could lead to more personalised treatments to delay or prevent type 1 diabetes.