Our research projects

Women living with type 1 diabetes and their babies can be at a higher risk of difficulties during pregnancy and birth. Professor Claire Meek wants to see whether levels of a molecule found in the blood can help to predict a high-risk pregnancy. Being able to spot potential problems in advance could help women with type 1 and their babies to get the tailored care they need to avoid these problems.

Disruptions to our body clock can have a surprising impact on our health, including links with eye damage for people living with diabetes. Dr Eleni Beli wants to take a closer look at these links, to understand more about how eye damage can develop and progress. Her research could uncover an innovative new approach to help people with diabetes avoid sight loss.

Losing sensation in the feet is one of the most common diabetes complications. It's often diagnosed too late and, in the most serious cases, can result in amputation. So it is vitally important to find a way to predict who’s at risk as soon as possible. Professor Robyn Tapp is testing whether photos taken at the annual eye screening for people with diabetes could be used as an early warning system to identify people at high risk of foot problems, and prevent complications.

Eighty per cent of people living with diabetes take medications to treat their condition. Professor Helen Colhoun will look at the health records of everyone with diabetes in Scotland to learn more about the effectiveness and safety of different diabetes medications when they’re used in the real word. This could pick up any missed safety concerns or benefits that weren’t spotted in clinical trials and transform how diabetes drugs are prescribed. In doing so, this could reduce the number of people living with diabetes who experience harmful side effects, making their care safer and more personalised. 

Self-management programmes can empower people with type 2 diabetes to manage their condition and improve their health. But current programmes aren’t suited to the unique needs of younger people living with type 2 diabetes. Dr Michelle Hadjiconstantinou is testing a new digital self-management programme designed for and with this group and working out how it could be slotted into NHS care. This could ensure younger people get the tailored support they need to live well with the condition.  

There’s evidence that common viral infections in children may play a part in triggering the immune system attack at the root of type 1 diabetes. But we don’t yet understand how or why only some children are affected. Dr Kasra Bahadori will study children’s immune responses to uncover missing pieces of the puzzle, with the aim of developing treatments that could prevent viruses from triggering type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes affects cells in the pancreas that protect against dangerous low blood sugar levels (hypos). Dr Thomas Hill will uncover why these cells stop working and test existing drugs that could restore the body’s natural defence against hypos. This could make insulin treatment safer and help people with type 1 diabetes avoid the dangers and daily challenges caused by hypos. 

Our scientists have shown that some adults with type 2 diabetes can go into remission through a low-calorie weight management programme. Dr Sachdev will now explore if the same approach is possible in children with type 2 diabetes. This could lead to a much-needed new treatment that gives children with type 2 the chance to go into remission and the opportunity for a healthier future.  

Professor Vivien Coates will study the experiences of women with diabetes who are going through menopause to understand its impact on blood sugars and diabetes management, and where support is missing. In the future this could help health services to provide the best possible care for women with diabetes to support them with the unique challenges the menopause can bring.