Our research projects

Scientists can test for signals made by the immune system, called autoantibodies, to help diagnose which type of diabetes someone has. And to help predict who is at risk of developing type 1 diabetes in the future. Professor Gillespie is exploring how to increase the accuracy of an autoantibody test and ready it for use in the NHS. This could lead to better ways of diagnosing and predicting type 1 and could give us new insights into the root causes of the condition.  

Gestational diabetes can develop during pregnancy. People with the condition can experience high levels of stigma both during and after pregnancy, which can have a negative effect on both mental and physical health. Dr Rita Forde will work with women who have experience of gestational diabetes and healthcare professionals to develop and share communication tools that aim raise awareness of and combat gestational diabetes related stigma. 

The brain has an important role in measuring and controlling blood sugar levels. In people with diabetes this can go wrong when the brain chooses a level that’s too high. Dr Clemence Blouet wants to find out if there’s a way of developing new treatments that can reprogramme the brain to keep blood sugar at safer levels.

Lower levels of vitamin C have been linked with obesity and an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Professor Jon Whitehead will explore how vitamin C gets into fats cells and if more vitamin C inside these cells helps insulin to work better. Understanding this could help us find out if vitamin C supplements could become a new strategy to help treat type 2 diabetes in the future.

High blood sugar levels can affect the way kidney cells talk to each other, which can lead to kidney damage. Professor Claire Hills wants to understand the different languages that kidney cells speak and which ones are dangerous to kidney cell health. This will help researchers to create new treatments that translate or stop the dangerous languages and reduce the risk of complications in people living with diabetes.

Beta cells release insulin into the blood stream, but this complex process isn’t well understood. Dr Benoit Hastoy wants to investigate the process in more detail, to try and improve the effectiveness of existing treatments for people with type 2 diabetes.

The use of antipsychotics in children has increased dramatically in recent decades. In adults, these drugs are linked with a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes. But we don’t know how they affect type 2 risk in children and young people. Dr Lau will study NHS medical records from those treated with antipsychotics and will search for risk factors of type 2 in this group. This could give us better ways to help prevent type 2 diabetes in children who take antipsychotics.

People with diabetes are more at risk of developing foot ulcers that can be difficult to heal. Scientists have discovered lots of cells in foot ulcers go wrong and become zombie-like, where they shut down but won’t die. Dr Wilkinson wants to find out if these zombie cells play a role in slowing down healing and whether killing them with anti-ageing drugs could speed the healing up. In the future, this could lead to a new treatment for people living with diabetes and foot ulcers that could transform their quality of life.

In diabetes, insulin-making beta cells in pancreas have either been destroyed or don’t work properly. Dr Liu is researching a molecule called miR-33 to see if blocking it could help beta cells to work better. This could lead to new treatments for type 2 diabetes and improvement transplants of beta cells for people living with type 1.

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.