Our research projects

The bacteria living in our gut play an important role in our health, and could have a hand in the development of type 2 diabetes. Professor Dumas will study the gut bacteria of people who are at high risk of type 2 diabetes to discover which species of bacteria could be involved in either increase or reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. This could help scientists to develop new treatments that change the makeup of our gut bacteria and help to prevent type 2 diabetes.

Dr Yaghootkar will study genes to understand what protects some people living with obesity from developing type 2 diabetes. She would like to understand how certain genes influence the way we store fat and if they can protect people from developing type 2 diabetes. Dr Yaghootkar hopes that understanding why certain people are naturally protected from type 2 diabetes may help to develop better treatments and prevention strategies in the future.

Having gestational diabetes can increase the risk of getting type 2 diabetes in later life for both mother and baby. Dr Bowe wants to better understand why. He will study changes in the pancreas that happen during pregnancy in women with gestational diabetes to find out if, and how, this has a lasting impact which puts mum and baby at a greater risk of type 2. This could inform new treatments to help women and their children reduce their risk and make sure fewer people get type 2 diabetes in the future.

Islet cell transplants for people with type 1 diabetes and severe hypos can be life-changing. But a lot of islet cells die soon after transplant, limiting the success of the treatment. Dr Caton plans to block a protein called NAMPT to see if this can improve the survival of cells after transplant. In the future, this can make islet transplants more effective and more accessible.  

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. 

Type 2 diabetes develops when insulin-producing beta cells stop working correctly. Two proteins related to the health of these cells have been identified. Dr Calum Sutherland wants to examine how changing the levels and activity of these proteins affects the health of the beta cells and the amount of insulin they release. Better understanding of the role these proteins play in insulin production could leads to new treatments for people with type 2 diabetes or to prevent the condition in those at risk.

Researching fat cells provides a chance to better understand the link between insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. A substance in the blood called ADMA changes how fat cells work. Dr Salt is going to compare ADMA in fat cells of humans and mice to understand why this happens. This could open the door to new ways of preventing or treating type 2 diabetes. 

People with diabetes can develop damage to the blood vessels in their kidney. A protein, called VEGFC, can protect against this damage. Dr Foster plans to develop a new treatment, based on VEGFC . She’ll find out if the novel approach can help cells to maintain protective levels of VEGFC to prevent kidney damage. This could lead to new treatments that protect people with diabetes from potentially life-threatening kidney complications.

People from South Asian and Black Caribbean backgrounds are at a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, and it appears that they may also have more difficulty controlling blood glucose levels and avoiding complications.

Dr Sophie Eastwood wants to compare different medications for people with type 2 diabetes from European, South Asian and African Caribbean origin. She hopes to find the treatments that work best for South Asian and Black Caribbean people, to help them control their blood glucose levels.