BBDC Newsletter
Vol. 5, No. 3 -- March 2005
UPCOMING BBDC EVENTS
DIABETES UPDATE - FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2005
COMBINATION THERAPIES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF DIABETES
There is still time to register for Diabetes Update 2005, a full-day continuing education event to be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. This event is open to all health professionals such as physicians, nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, social workers, etc., as well as residents and students with an interest in diabetes care and management. This year’s event will focus on combination therapies in the management of diabetes and will also provide an update on current practice guidelines and management strategies. The event will consist of several lectures and interactive concurrent sessions. The complete program and registration form are available on the Faculty of Medicine Continuing Education website www.cme.utoronto.ca .
BBDC SEMINAR SERIES
Seminars are held in conjunction with City-wide Endocrine Rounds on selected Friday mornings from 8 to 9 a.m., Mount Sinai Hospital, Private Dining Room, 2nd level below main. The next BBDC
Seminar will be held on:
Friday, April 22
Dipeptidyl Peptidase IV Inhibition for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes
Nancy A. Thornberry
Metabolic Disorders, Merck Research Laboratories
Faculty wishing to meet with Nancy Thornberry should contact the BBDC at (416) 978-4656 or at diabetes.bbdc@utoronto.ca.
BBDC ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC DAY 2005
This year’s Scientific Day will be held on Friday, May 13, 2005 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Vaughan Estate, the Estates of Sunnybrook. The featured guest speaker will be Dr. Christopher Rhodes, Associate Scientific Director of the Pacific Northwest Research Institute, and Professor of Pharmacology, University of Washington whose presentation is entitled “Type-2 Diabetes - A Matter of ß-Cell Life and Death: An IRS-2 Centric Point of View”. The program will also include University of Toronto faculty and staff Dr. Michelle Bendeck, Dr. Esteban Parra, Dr. Bruce Perkins, Dr. Allen Volchuk, and Dr. Fenghua Yi. This event is open and free to BBDC Members and their trainees, however, registration is required by April 28. The complete program and registration form are available on the BBDC’s website in the Educational Activities section.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
trainee travel awards
Period 2: for travel occurring between January 1 and June 30, 2005
The Banting and Best Diabetes Centre will make 15 awards of up to $1,000 available to trainees who will be traveling to a national or international meeting between January 1, 2005 and June 30, 2005 to present a first-author abstract. The content of the abstract must be directly related to an area of diabetes research. To be eligible, applicants must be registered graduate students or postdoctoral fellows conducting diabetes research at the University of Toronto. The trainee's supervisor must be a member* of the BBDC. Travel Awards are limited to two per lab per BBDC fiscal year (i.e. July 1 to June 30), and only one award will be granted per trainee per BBDC fiscal year. Therefore, trainees who received a BBDC Travel Award in period 1 are not eligible to submit an application for period 2. The deadline for receipt of applications is 3 p.m., March 30, 2005. For complete award details and application form, please see the Funding Opportunities section of the BBDC's website.
Graduate Studentships
The Banting and Best Diabetes Centre is accepting applications for the following OSOTF+ graduate studentships competition: 1) BBDC-Novo Nordisk Studentships, 2) Yow Kam-Yuen
Graduate Scholarship in Diabetes Research, and 3) Tamarack Graduate Award in Diabetes Research. To be eligible to apply, an applicant must be a
full-time graduate student in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, and must be carrying out studies in diabetes research. The student's supervisor must be a full-time faculty
member of the University of Toronto and a member* of the BBDC. In accordance with the OSOTF award guidelines, the applicant is required to demonstrate financial need and must be either
a Canadian citizen or have permanent residence status in Ontario. The deadline for receipt of applications is 3 p.m., Tuesday, June 7, 2005. For complete award
details and application instructions, please see the Funding Opportunities section of our website. Students need only submit one
application to be considered for all three studentships.
(+Ontario Students Opportunity Trust Fund)
*Faculty who are new to the field of diabetes research and are not members of the BBDC can request free membership by contacting the Centre prior to submitting an application. To be eligible for BBDC Membership, one must hold a full time faculty appointment with the University of Toronto and must be involved in diabetes research. For more information about BBDC Membership, please view the MEMBERSHIP section of our website.
AWARD RESULTS**
EQUIPMENT GRANTS
The following have each been offered a BBDC Equipment Grant:
| Applicant | Equipment and Title of Research |
Award |
| Dr. Patricia Brubaker | Chromo-4, Four-color Real-time System Attachment Real-time PCR analysis of single endocrine cells |
$30,000 |
| Dr. Herbert Gaisano | Upright Microscope In situ examination if islet cell function using organotypic slices |
$29,246 |
ARCHIE SOPMAN DIABETES RESEARCH COMPETITION
The following have each been offered an Archie Sopman Diabetes Research Award to attend a national or international diabetes-related meeting/conference in the year 2005:
| Applicant | Award |
| Lynn Baughan (Toronto General Hospital) | Up to $1,000 Canadian |
| Marianne Beckstead (Toronto General Hospital) | Up to $1,000 Canadian |
| Kathy Camelon (Toronto General Hospital) | Up to $1,000 Canadian |
| Ann Cook (Toronto Western Hospital) | Up to $1,000 Canadian |
| Margaret De Melo (Toronto Western Hospital) | Up to $1,000 Canadian |
| Lorna Lawrence (Toronto Western Hospital) | Up to $1,000 Canadian |
| Louisa Li (Toronto Western Hospital) | Up to $1,000 Canadian |
| Kitty Mak (Toronto Western Hospital) | Up to $1,000 Canadian |
| Ann Murphy (Toronto General Hospital) | Up to $1,000 Canadian |
| Ana Offenheim (Toronto Western Hospital) | Up to $1,000 Canadian |
| Mary Weiland (Toronto Western Hospital) | Up to $1,000 Canadian |
**An essential condition of all BBDC programs is the acknowledgement of BBDC support, where appropriate, in all publications relevant to the BBDC-supported research program. Failure to appropriately acknowledge the BBDC in relevant publications will be considered grounds for suspending future eligibility for BBDC funding programs.
BBDC News is published in September,
December, March and June of each year.
Current and past issues are available
on our web site.
DIRECTOR: DANIEL J. DRUCKER, MD, FRCPC
Banting and Best
Diabetes Centre
Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Located at
the Toronto General Hospital
200 Elizabeth Street
Max Bell Research
Centre, 4th Floor, 4R402
Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C4
Phone: (416) 978-4656
• Fax: (416) 978-4108
E-mail: diabetes.bbdc@utoronto.ca • Website:
www.bbdc.org