Our research projects

People with diabetes are at an increased risk of health problems as they age. But doctors don’t usually monitor how older people with diabetes are ageing physically. Professor Bain now wants to develop an Artificial Intelligence (AI) programme that measures the physical ability levels of older people with type 2 diabetes. This could help to better understand the diverse needs of older people with diabetes and use this to make care more personalised.  
 

Transplants of insulin-producing beta cells from donors into people with type 1 diabetes, called ‘islet transplants’, have been shown to temporarily remove the need for insulin injections in many cases. However, there aren’t enough beta cells available for everyone who needs a transplant. Dr Elisa De Franco wants to find the genes that control the development of beta cells, by studying babies born with neonatal diabetes, to see if these genes could be used to make beta cells in the lab.

A rare type of diabetes, known as syndromic diabetes, is caused by changes in certain genes. But so far only half of the genetic changes behind the condition have been found. Dr Patel aims to find more of the genes that could be causing syndromic diabetes. This would mean more people get the right diabetes diagnosis and care.  

Women who develop type 2 diabetes under the age of 40 have a greater risk of complications during pregnancy, including stillbirth. Professor Claire Meek will explore if and how continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) can help these women to have safer pregnancies. This research could reshape future care for women with early-onset type 2 diabetes, helping to make sure they have access to the tools they need.

When the immune system attacks the pancreas in type 1 diabetes, the body responds with inflammation which can damage insulin-producing beta cells. Transplants of pancreas cells, called islet transplants, can be used to treat some people with type 1 diabetes, but they don’t always work. Dr Chloe Rackham wants to understand how shape-shifting stem cells can protect transplanted cells from damage caused by inflammation. This could help to make islet transplants more successful in the future and could open up ways to delay or prevent type 1 diabetes. 

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. 

The current test for gestational diabetes can be inaccurate, expensive, inconvenient, and unappealing for many women. Professor Claire Meek wants to develop a new test that could tackle these problems. A better test could help more women with gestational diabetes to get an easier diagnosis, as well as the support they need as they go through pregnancy. 

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.