Our research projects

Sometimes insulin can cause cells to multiply rather than bringing down blood sugar levels. This can increase the risk of some cancers in people with diabetes. Prof Nia Bryant wants to better understand how and why insulin can have this effect. With her PhD student, she will pinpoint the specific areas on cells that causes insulin to lower blood sugars and not to tell cells to multiply. In the future, this could help scientists develop new treatments for people with diabetes that aren’t linked with an increased risk of cancer.

Diabetic foot ulcers are a common complication of all types of diabetes. Ill-fitting footwear rubbing against the foot can increase the risk of a foot ulcer developing. Dr Petra Jones wants to test the existing guidelines for good fitting footwear for people living with diabetes, to make sure they're getting the best possible advice to protect their foot health.

We know that a person’s genetic makeup is important in type 2 diabetes but we don’t know exactly how they’re linked. Dr Jennings is going to study genes related to beta cell and pancreas development and the 3D switches that control them. This will give us a better understanding of why type 2 diabetes develops, which could lead to new therapies to prevent and treat it. 

People with type 2 diabetes are more likely to develop depression. This could in part be down to our genes. Professor Prokopenko plans to study changes in the GLP-1R gene and look at if and how the gene could increase the risk of both type 2 diabetes and depression. If the shared genes affect the development of both conditions it could lead to improved medications that work to treat both conditions. 

Our brain plays an important role in assessing whether our blood sugar levels are too high or too low, so our body can bring them back into a safe range. Dr Ellacott wants to focus on a type of brain cell, called the astrocyte, to figure out they’re involved in sensing blood glucose levels. This could help us develop new treatments that target astrocytes to help people with diabetes avoid dangerous blood sugar levels.

People with diabetes are at a higher risk of developing heart problems. Professor Madeddu plans to develop a new treatment, called a protein therapy, which will deliver a protein, that’s been found to help protect heart health. He’ll find out if the therapy can help cells to make more of this ‘longevity’ protein, to help prevent heart problems. This could lead to new treatments that protect people with diabetes from potentially life-threatening complications.

When fat cells are inflamed by high blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes, they can release toxic levels of fatty acids into the blood, leading to insulin resistance. But cells in the body need a healthy level of fatty acids to work, so removing them completely isn’t an option. Professor Robin Klemm wants to understand more about how fatty acids are produced, which could help researchers to develop new treatments to control the level of fatty acids better and reduce insulin resistance.

Having diabetes can lead to damaged blood vessels in the retina at the back of the eye, caused by high blood sugar levels. This can lead to vision problems and sight loss. Dr Judith Lechner wants to find out if a protective protein can be used to repair and reduce this damage, and potentially be used as a new treatment option in the future.

Some people develop type 1 diabetes very quickly, but in others, the immune attack that causes type 1 diabetes progresses slowly. Professor Kathleen Gillespie and her PhD student will look for genetic differences between these groups of people to find out why this is. In the future, this could lead to life-changing treatments to delay or prevent type 1 diabetes.