Our research projects

Not everyone with diabetes is diagnosed with the right type straight away. Professor Angus Jones wants to shed more light on how common misdiagnosis is and who could benefit from extra checks by analysing data from a large health study, called the UK Biobank. His insights could help more people with diabetes to get the right diagnosis, and the right care and advice. 

It’s not always easy to diagnose which type of diabetes a person has. This is because the symptoms and test results can overlap, particularly in people from some ethnic groups. In this project, Professor Shields will improve calculators used to get the diagnosis right in many more people with diabetes. 

Immunotherapies work by retraining the immune system, and scientists hope they could stop or prevent the immune attack behind Type 1 diabetes. They’re testing different immunotherapies right now, but we need to speed up progress. Professor Colin Dayan will expand a network of immunotherapy research teams and improve the clinical trials process to help make these treatments available for people with Type 1 as soon as possible. 

Cilia are tiny, hair-like structures that help cells communicate. Dr Nalia Haq is studying whether cilia problems in insulin-making beta cells contribute to the development of type 1 diabetes,  or result from it. Her findings could help us better understand the root causes of type 1 diabetes, and point to targets for new treatments to slow or prevent it.

Living with diabetes can increase the risk of kidney disease, which in turn increases the risk of heart disease. Professor Luigi Gnudi has found a new protein that can tune signalling molecules to protect kidney cells and blood vessels. Understanding how the protein does this could help researchers to develop new treatments that can heal damaged kidney cells and also lower the risk of heart and blood vessel problems for people living with diabetes. 

Many people with type 2 diabetes also experience depression. But we don’t know which existing diabetes treatments could also treat depression in people living with both conditions. Dr Gao is providing much-needed evidence to fill this knowledge gap. Her work could help to shape more personalised care so people get treatments that help them manage both conditions, without needing extra medications.  

Pregnant women with diabetes have a higher chance of their babies being born with heart problems. Dr Chivers is researching the factors that can cause this and also better ways of working out which babies are at greatest risk. In the future, this could help give better care to pregnant women with diabetes and their babies. 

People with diabetes are three times more likely to go to hospital at some stage in life than people without diabetes. Of these, many will be very unwell in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). We know that continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) tech reduces low blood sugars in people with diabetes who aren’t in hospital. Dr Avari will explore whether CGM can prevent severely low blood sugars in critically ill people with diabetes in hospital. This research could make CGM use part of routine care to protect the health of this vulnerable group.

Some people with diabetes go on to develop problems with the nerves in their feet. This is known as peripheral neuropathy and can affect safe driving. Professor Marple-Horvat is investigating if a driving stimulator and feedback system can help people with peripheral neuropathy get back to driving safely again, and keep their independence.

Many people who use metformin to manage their type 2 diabetes, often need to start on a second medication to control blood sugar levels. Dr Beall wants to better understand the effect of metformin in the brain and why this may cause some people with type 2 to stop responding to it over time. He’ll also shed new light on if and how metformin may have anti-inflammatory effects in the brain. In the future this could help us to understand who is more likely to need an add on treatment and open-up new ways to keep the brain healthy in people with diabetes.