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BBDC Newsletter

BBDC NEWS Vol. 9, No. 3 -- March 2009

UPCOMING EVENTS

DIABETES UPDATE 2009 - ADVANCES AND CHALLENGES IN
MANAGING DIABETES IN AN ERA OF CHOICE

There is still time to register for DIABETES UPDATE 2009 which will be held on Friday, April 3, 2009 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.  This is an accredited continuing medical education event intended for health care professionals including, but not limited to, physicians, nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, students, residents, etc. The complete program and registration information are available on the Faculty of Medicine Continuing Education web page at http://events.cmetoronto.ca/website/index/BDC0901 .

20TH ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC DAY

Members of the BBDC and their trainees are invited to attend our 20th Annual Scientific Day which will be held on Friday, May 8, 2009 at The Old Mill Inn, Toronto.  This year’s Charles Hollenberg Memorial Lectureship will be presented by Dr. Bruce Spiegelman from Harvard Medical School who will speak on the topic of Transcriptional Control of Adipogenesis and Energy Homeostasis.  The program will also include University of Toronto faculty and staff Drs. Denise Belsham, Gary Lewis, Alexey Podcheko, Ravi Retnakaran, and Minna Woo.  BBDC postdoctoral fellowship and graduate studentship recipients will present posters of their work and winners of the Annual Trainee Awards competition will be announced.  There is no fee to attend; however, registration is required by Wednesday, April 22.  The complete program and registration form are available at http://www.bbdc.org/educationalAct/scientificDay.htm .

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
RECENT ADVANCES IN BETA CELL BIOLOGY: SCIENTIFIC AND CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

This official academic satellite symposium of the International Diabetes Federation 20th World Diabetes Congress  will be held October 16-17, 2009 at the Sheraton Centre in downtown Toronto, and will highlight very recent advances in our understanding of beta cell biology with a focus on translational relevance and implications for the treatment of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.  Participants are invited to submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations at the symposium.  Abstracts related to all aspects of beta cell biology are welcome and must be submitted online by May 20, 2009.  Detailed information regarding abstract guidelines is available on the symposium web site at www.betacell2009.ca .

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The University of Toronto has announced a suspension of payments, effective April 2009, for income that would normally flow from endowed investments.  Since the vast majority of BBDC annual funding comes from endowment income, this poses a huge challenge for the Centre, namely how to try and continue operations while faced with a crippling cessation of funding that normally flows from our endowments. Due to the significant loss of income, we may make changes to the Centre's funding programs until the current fiscal challenges subside.  Changes may affect the number of programs offered, the number of awards disbursed, and/or the dollar value of individual awards.

TRAINEE TRAVEL AWARDS 2008/2009 (PERIOD 2)
FOR TRAVEL OCCURRING BETWEEN JANUARY 1 AND JUNE 30, 2009

Awards of up to $1,000 (Canadian) are available to trainees who will be traveling to a national or international meeting between January 1 and June 30, 2009 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, post-doctoral or clinical fellows conducting diabetes research at the University of Toronto or one of its affiliated institutions.  The trainee’s supervisor must hold a full-time faculty appointment with the University of Toronto and must also be a registered member* of the BBDC at the time of application submission.   The deadline for receipt of applications is 5 p.m., March 31, 2009.  For complete award details and application instructions please see the following web page: http://www.bbdc.org/fundingOpp/travel.htm .

GRADUATE STUDENTSHIPS 2009/2010

The Banting and Best Diabetes Centre is accepting applications for the following graduate studentships: 
1) BBDC Graduate Studentships
2) BBDC-University Health Network Graduate Awards
Students need only submit one application to be considered for both awards.  To be eligible to apply, the applicant must be a registered full-time graduate student in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto by August 31, 2009, and must be carrying out studies in diabetes research.  The applicant must be either a Canadian citizen or have permanent residence status in Ontario by August 31, 2009. The student's supervisor must hold a full-time faculty appointment with the University of Toronto and must also be a registered member* of the BBDC at the time of application submission.   The deadline for receipt of applications is 5 p.m., Tuesday, June 2, 2009.  Please note that supervisors may submit a maximum of 2 applications for this competition.  For complete award details and application instructions, please see the Funding Opportunities section of the BBDC’s web site at http://www.bbdc.org/fundingOpp/index.htm.

(Note: The BBDC will not be offering the following OSOTF graduate awards this year due to loss of endowment income: BBDC-Novo Nordisk Studentships; Tamarack Graduate Award; and Yow Kam-Yuen Graduate Scholarship.)

* Those who are new to the field of diabetes research, education or care and are not members of the BBDC can request free membership by contacting the Centre prior to submitting an application. For more information about BBDC Membership, please view the MEMBERSHIP section of our web site at http://www.bbdc.org/membership/index.htm .

AWARD RESULTS**

ARCHIE SOPMAN DIABETES RESEARCH AND EDUCATION AWARDS 2009

Applicant Purpose Amount
Lynn Baughan Travel to diabetes meeting Up to $1,000 CAD
Kathy Camelon Travel to diabetes meeting Up to $1,000 CAD
Joyce Chan Travel to diabetes meeting Up to $1,000 CAD
Lucia Chan Travel to diabetes meeting Up to $1,000 CAD
Angela Cheung Travel to diabetes meeting Up to $1,000 CAD
Kathy Cohen Travel to diabetes meeting Up to $1,000 CAD
Margaret De Melo Travel to diabetes meeting Up to $1,000 CAD
Lorna Lawrence Travel to diabetes meeting Up to $190 CAD
Louisa Li Travel to diabetes meeting Up to $1,000 CAD
Kitty Mak Travel to diabetes meeting Up to $1,000 CAD
Lisa Mighton Travel to diabetes meeting Up to $1,000 CAD
Ann Murphy Travel to diabetes meeting Up to $1,000 CAD
Ana Offenheim Travel to diabetes meeting Up to $1,000 CAD
Marianne Sigmond Travel to diabetes meeting Up to $1,000 CAD
Mary Weiland Travel to diabetes meeting Up to $220 CAD
Martha Wright Travel to diabetes meeting Up to $1,000 CAD

CHARLES HOLLENBERG SUMMER STUDENTSHIPS 2009

Applicant Supervisor Title of Research
Inna Genkin Dr. Michael Wheeler SIRT1 activation regulated glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and/or beta cell activity
Anthony Grieco Dr. Patricia Brubaker Roles of Sitagliptin and/or Metformin in the Regulation of Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Secretion
Joseph Hasso Dr. Allen Volchuk Identification of ER Stress-Inducible Proteins in Pancreatic Beta-cells
Paul Hertz Dr. Bruce Perkins In-Vivo Human Corneal Nerve Fiber Density as a Biomarker of Early Neuropathy in Type 1 Diabetes
Darryl Huang Dr. I. G. Fantus Role of TxNIP in Diabetic Nephropathy
Taylor Kain Dr. Daniel Drucker Novel actions of GLP-1 in the GI tract
Ananthavalli Kumarappah
(Declined)		 Dr. Carol Westall Detection of neural retinal damage in adolescents with type 1 diabetes
Kodie Lee Dr. Andrew Advani Therapeutic effect of histone deacetylase inhibition in early experimental diabetic nephropathy
Yumi Lee Dr. Mark Palmert Mouse model of in-utero hyperglycemia:  Assessment of risks for metabolic abnormalities in offspring.
Yi Xin Lu Dr. Maria Rozakis-Adcock Molecular and cellular processes that contribute to insulin resistance and type II diabetes
Milani Sivagnanam Dr. J. M. Wojtowicz Neurogenesis in adult brain.  Effects of GABA and insulin on neuronal survival
Laetitia Tam Dr. Dominic Ng Resistance to diet-induced obesity and diabetes in a dyslipidemic model – the role of ER stress
Aneliya Vasileva Dr. Minna Woo Investigating the role of liver caspase-8 in insulin resistance
Nadia Warsi Dr. Derek van der Kooy B-cell generation from adult pancreatic stem cells
Andrew Wayne Dr. Carolyn Cummins Role of LXRs in Glucocorticoid-Induced Hepatic Steatosis
Eric Wong Dr. Michelle Bendeck Investigating the functional relationship between discoidin domain receptor 1 and transforming growth factor beta in smooth muscle cell collagen synthesis

DIABETES EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD 2008

Nominee Profession Award
Lynn Baughan, RN, BScN, CDE Diabetes Nurse Clinician,
Toronto General Hospital		 $2,000

EQUIPMENT GRANTS FOR DIABETES RESEARCH 2008/2009

Applicant Title of Research Amount
Dr. Adria Giacca The Making of a Mouse Lab.
 $29,928

PILOT GRANTS FOR INNOVATIVE ACTIVITIES RELATED TO DIABETES EDUCATION, MANAGEMENT, AND CARE 2009/2010

Principal Applicant Title of Research Amount
Dr. Rene Wong

 

 A National Survey on the Current Status of Family Medicine Residency Education in Diabetes $7,200
Dr. Lorraine Lipscombe

 

 Readiness for Diabetes Prevention in Women with a History of Gestational Diabetes $12,800

** 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’s support in relevant publications will be considered grounds for suspending future eligibility for BBDC funding programs.

BBDC CORE LABORATORY

The BBDC Core Laboratory provides analytical and technical support to the University of Toronto diabetes research community.  A wide range of research quality assays are provided for investigator initiated clinical or basic research as well as for industry sponsored trials. Please see the Core Laboratory section of the BBDC’s web site at http://www.bbdc.org/laboratories/index.htm for a complete description of assays and services currently available.

BBDC Membership is free and open to individuals involved in full or part-time diabetes research, education, and patient care who are employed at the University of Toronto or its affiliated institutions. (E.g. scientists, physicians, nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, and other allied health care professionals.) Staff at both fully and partially affiliated institutions are eligible to apply for membership. For more information about BBDC Membership, please view the MEMBERSHIP section of our web site at http://www.bbdc.org/membership/index.htm.

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
Eaton Building, 12th Floor, Room 12E248
Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C4
Phone: (416) 978-4656 • Fax: (416) 978-4108
E-mail: diabetes.bbdc@utoronto.ca • Website: www.bbdc.org