Our research projects

Researchers are building AI-powered tools that can identify people most at risk of diabetes complications before they develop. Dr Rebecca Thomas is exploring how people with diabetes feel towards AI being used in this way, and receiving results about their future complications risk. This will inform recommendations on how to communicate AI-driven risk predictions in a way that builds trust and understanding, supporting both physical health and emotional well-being.

British-Pakistani women are at particularly high risk of developing gestational diabetes and type 2 later in life, so there’s a need to better understand such risks and how we could better support them. But existing research does not reflect the differences within South Asian communities or address their specific needs. The project aims to better understand how British-Pakistani women experience care during and after pregnancy, and how well current services support them. The findings will help improve healthcare and develop more effective and supportive ways to prevent type 2 diabetes in this group. 

In people living with type 2 diabetes, platelets in the blood are more likely to clot, putting them at a higher risk of heart attack than people without diabetes. Dr Allan is seeing whether an existing type 2 treatment, semaglutide, could also protect people against heart damage. This could improve people’s health and mean they need to take less medications, easing the day-to-day-burden of living with type 2 diabetes. 

Type 3c diabetes develops because of damage to the pancreas. It often goes misdiagnosed and there’s no tailored treatment or care for people living with it. Professor James Shaw is testing existing drugs to see if they could help to repair the pancreas and boost insulin production. This research could pave the way for more effective treatments, helping those with type 3c diabetes better manage their blood sugar levels.

A potential transformative treatment for type 1 diabetes is to replace insulin-making beta cells that have been destroyed with new ones, so that people can make their own insulin again. Professor Shanta Persaud is testing a new and improved method to grow new beta cells in the lab from stem cells. Having an unlimited supply of lab-made beta cells would bring us closer to a cure for type 1 diabetes, and this project could see us get there sooner. 

High blood sugar levels can lead to damage to our eyes, known as retinopathy. Professor Karl Matter thinks that a protein called MarvelD3, which helps cells to stick together in blood vessels, might hold some answers. His research could give us valuable new insights to help develop innovative approaches to protect blood vessels and prevent sight loss in people with diabetes.

The pancreas-liver-gut axis are a group of organs that work together to control blood sugar levels. Changes in blood flow in these organs have been found in type 2 diabetes. Professor Murphy plans to understand these blood flow changes better and see if they hold the answer to improving current type 2 diabetes treatments or finding new ones. 

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 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.

Muscle damage is a common but under-studied complication of type 2 diabetes. It reduces mobility and can affect independence. Professor Lee Roberts will explore if a drug licensed to treat problems with how the body processes iron could help to improve muscle health and quality of life. This could improve our understanding of muscle damage in people with type 2 diabetes and provide us with better ways to treat it.