Our research projects

People from Black African and Caribbean and South Asian backgrounds are at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes and some of its complications than White people. Professor Daniel Cuthbertson will look at differences in body fat stores and insulin response among people from these ethnic groups to uncover biological factors that can contribute to the development of type 2. This could lead to tailored support and treatments to prevent and manage type 2 diabetes based on your ethnicity.

Gestational diabetes can increase the risk of mothers developing type 2 diabetes and heart problems later in life. It could also damage the placenta, which can pose a threat to babies in the womb. These problems might be due to a decrease in specialist immune cells during gestational diabetes. Dr Cristiano Scotta is developing a better way to study the placenta in the lab. His approach could potentially help to develop new treatments that better protect mothers and their babies during and after pregnancy.

As some people living with type 1 diabetes benefit from hybrid closed loop, they still need to count carbs and adjust insulin doses at meals. Professor Roman Hovorka’s team is developing a fully automated system that hopes to reduce these demands and act more like a true ‘artificial pancreas’. They’re investigating why their current fully closed loop system works for some people with type 1 but not for others. They hope to optimise their technology so that more people could benefit from and access it in the future.

In many types of diabetes, insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas become stressed and damaged. Professor Terence Herbert has found that a group of molecules called RNA binding proteins (RBPs) may play an important role in helping beta cells survive this stress. In this project, his PhD student will explore how these proteins work and whether they could help protect beta cells and to prevent or slow the progress of diabetes.

People with diabetes are at risk of many complications because high blood sugar levels can damage their tiny blood vessels. Even though every person develops complications differently, there are no personalised treatments. Dr Zampetaki will test a new technology, which makes copies of a person’s blood vessels in the lab, to see which drugs best prevent blood vessel damage for them. This could help to personalise care to each individual with diabetes and accelerate the development of new complications treatments. 

Closed loop technology holds the potential to transform diabetes management and outcomes for people with type 2 who use insulin. But so far, studies testing the technology have mainly involved White people and those with higher incomes. Dr Boughton will address this by testing closed loop systems with a more diverse and representation population. She’ll interview people from ethnic minority and low-income backgrounds, along with healthcare professionals, to explore their experiences and develop tailored information and support. This will help to make sure people from all backgrounds can benefit from this technology in the future. 

Our DiRECT study showed that a low-calorie weight management programme can help some people with type 2 diabetes lose weight and go into remission. But most DiRECT participants were from White European backgrounds and older. So, it’s unclear if younger South Asian people could benefit in the same way. Dr Sophie Jones will explore how young South Asian people respond to a low-calorie diet compared to White people. This could help to tailor remission care for this group and improve their health. 

Heart and kidney complications are major contributors to poor health in people with type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes treatments called GLP-1 agonists can help to protect these organs, but we don’t know how. Professor Claire Hills is investigating what’s happening behind the scenes. She's studying how these treatments influence inflammation in the kidney, to understand more. This could reveal new ways to prevent or slow down complications, ultimately improving care and saving lives. 

Professor Timothy Tree and researchers across the UK will set up a network of specialist labs to examine samples from all UK-based trials of immunotherapies for type 1 diabetes. They will carry out state-of-the-art studies of their safety and effectiveness to understand exactly how treatments work to control the immune system, and who could benefit most from different treatments. In the future, immunotherapies could give us a way to prevent, halt and cure type 1 diabetes.

Established in 2011, ADDRESS-2 is a database of information from of people newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes who have agreed to be involved in research. This new funding will continue to support the program and allow the team recruit more people. The team will work with the type 1 diabetes Immunotherapy Consortium to increase the number of people recruited into immunotherapy trials. These trials aim to find new ways to prevent, or cure, type 1 diabetes.