BBDC Newsletter
Vol. 6, No. 1 -- September 2005
APPROACH TO THE MANAGEMENT OF DIABETES MELLITUS – 6TH edition
This BBDC publication which was recently updated with the generous help of many diabetes health care professionals at the University of Toronto teaching hospitals, is now available on the home page of our web site in a new user-friendly, web-based format. The publication is a guide to the current concepts and management strategies practiced by health care professionals at the University of Toronto and its affiliated teaching hospitals. It is meant to provide practical information to help medical students, residents, physicians, diabetes educators and other health care professional in the management of individuals with diabetes. We would like to thank those who contributed to the production of this publication.
aNNUAL REPORT 2004-2005
The BBDC’s annual report for the year ending June 30, 2005 is now available in PDF format in the ‘Annual Report’ section of our web site at http://www.bbdc.org/annualReport/index.htm. The comprehensive report includes a financial statement of operations, highlights the BBDC’s educational activities which took place this past year, describes all of the BBDC’s funding programs, and lists this year’s award recipients.
UPCOMING BBDC EVENTS
BBDC Seminar Series
The BBDC will be hosting four diabetes-related seminars this year which are held in conjunction with City-wide Endocrine Rounds. The seminars are held on selected Friday mornings from 8 to 9 a.m. at the Mount Sinai Hospital, Private Dining Room, 2nd level below main. This year’s speakers are:
| October 7, 2005 | Pathophysiology of the Incretin System in Type 2 Diabetes Michael Nauck, MD, PhD Professor of Medicine Diabetes Centre Bad Lauterberg, Germany |
| December 9, 2005 | Recent Progress in Understanding the Molecular Basis of Diabetic Complications Michael Brownlee, MD Anita and Jack Saltz Professor of Diabetes Research Director, JDRF International Center for Diabetic Complications Research Departments of Medicine and Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York |
| February 17, 2006 | Islet Beta-Cell Regeneration: A Therapy for Type 1 Diabetes? Alex Rabinovitch, MD Professor, Department of Medicine Co-Director, Muttart Diabetes Research and Training Centre University of Alberta, Edmonton |
| April 28, 2006 | Roles For Ghrelin in the Regulation of Body Weight and Glucose Homeostasis David E. Cummings, MD Associate Professor of Medicine University of Washington, Seattle |
Faculty wishing to meet with any of the visiting speakers should contact the BBDC at (416) 978-4656 or at diabetes.bbdc@utoronto.ca.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
tRAINEE TRAVEL AWARDS (PERIOD 1)
for travel occurring between July 1 and december 31, 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 July 1 and December 31, 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. The deadline for receipt of applications is 3 p.m., October 4, 2005. For complete award details and application instructions, please see the following web page: http://www.bbdc.org/fundingOpp/trainee.htm.
1) NEW INVESTIGATOR AWARDS FOR DIABETES RESEARCH and
2) REUBEN & HELENE DENNIS SCHOLAR IN DIABETES RESEARCH
Several awards are available for new investigators to be used for research support and/or the salary of the investigator conducting diabetes-related research. The New Investigator Awards provide funding of $20,000/year for two years, and the Dennis Scholar award provides $10,000/year for two years. To be eligible, the applicant must be a principal investigator who holds a full-time academic appointment at the University of Toronto. The applicant must be conducting diabetes-related research and must be a member* of the BBDC. Faculty are eligible for this funding normally within five years of their first faculty appointment. The deadline for receipt of applications is 3 p.m., Tuesday, November 1, 2005. For complete award details and application instructions, please see the following web page: http://www.bbdc.org/fundingOpp/dennis&new.htm.
NEW DIABETES EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD – 2005
Each year the BBDC will present one $2,000 award to a diabetes educator who has demonstrated outstanding efforts and achievements in their role as a diabetes educator. This award is meant to recognize those who educate at the patient/client and community levels. Candidates must be nominated for the award by a health care professional. To be eligible for nomination, the candidate must be a full-time diabetes educator or health care professional employed by a University of Toronto-affiliated institution. The nominee must have a minimum 3 years of full-time experience as a diabetes educator. The deadline for receipt of nominations is 3 p.m., Tuesday, December 6, 2005. For complete award details and nomination instructions, please see the following web page: http://www.bbdc.org/fundingOpp/educator.htm.
Upcoming Funding Opportunities
The following funding opportunities will announced and information posted on our web site in October and November:
1) BBDC Postdoctoral Fellowships and Hugh Sellers Postdoctoral Fellowship 2006/2007
2) Charles Hollenberg Summer Studentship Program 2006
3) Annual Trainee Awards 2005/2006
*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**
GRADUATE STUDENTSHIPS:
BBDC/Novo Nordisk Studentships
The following students have been offered a BBDC/Novo Nordisk Studentship commencing September 2005:
| Applicant | Supervisor(s) |
Title of Research |
| Kristin Beard | Dr. George Fantus | Bradykinin Augments Insulin-Stimulated Glucose Transport in Rat Adipocytes via an Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase-Mediated Inhibition of JNK |
| Danna Breen | Dr. Adria Giacca | Investigation of the biological effects of the polyphenol resveratrol on the skeletal muscle glucose transport system. |
| Yin Chan | Dr. H.-Michael Dosch | Neuronal Contributions to Diabetes Pathoetiology |
| Sai-Wing Andrew Chiu | Dr. Marc Grynpas | Effects of Vanadium Treatment on Bone Qualities in Combined Type 1 Diabetes and Osteoporotic Rat Models |
| Diana Islam | Dr. Tianru Jin | Role of Epac Signaling Pathway in Regulating Proglucagon Gene Expression, GLP-1 Synthesis and Secretion |
| Michael Kiraly | Dr. Mladen Vranic and Dr. Stephen Matthews |
The Effects of 13 Weeks of Exercise Training and Neurogenic Stress on ß-Cell Mass Dynamics in the Zucker Diabetic Fatty (ZDF) Rat Model of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. |
| Nicole Liadis | Dr. Minna Woo and Dr. Pamela Ohashi |
Caspase-3-mediated beta cell apoptosis in the progression of Type 1 Diabetes |
| Gareth Lim | Dr. Patricia Brubaker | Insulin resistance impairs GLP-1 secretion in type 2 diabetes |
| Betty Ting Kwan Ng | Dr. Herbert Gaisano | SNARE regulation of cardiac sulfonylurea receptor, a novel drug target for cardiac ischemia |
| Andrei Oprescu | Dr. Adria Giacca | ß-Cell Lipotoxicity-Evidence for a Role of Oxidative Stress in vitro and in vivo. |
| Varinder Randhawa | Dr. Amira Klip | Characterization of GLUT4 compartments regulated by insulin and other stimuli. |
| Rohit Sheshgiri (Declined) |
Dr. Qinghua Wang | The mechanisms underlying glucose induced suppression of glucagon secretion |
| Simon Smukler | Dr. Derek van der Kooy | Clonal Identification and Characterization of Pancreas-Derived Multipotent Precursors |
| Jane Sun | Dr. Tianru Jin | Potential crosstalk between Insulin and Wnt signaling pathways. |
| Victor Wong | Dr. Patricia Brubaker | The role of phosphoinositol-3 kinase gamma in glucagon-like peptide-1 regulation of pancreatic beta cell growth and function |
| Fuzhen Xia | Dr. Robert Tsushima | Lipid Rafts in Islet Stimulus-Secretion Coupling |
| Jessica Yue | Dr. Mladen Vranic | Effects of somatostatin antagonist on glucagon counterregulation to hypoglycemia in diabetic rats |
Tamarack Graduate Awards in Diabetes Research
The following students have been offered a Tamarack Graduate Award commencing September 2005:
| Applicant | Supervisor | Title of Research |
| Jasmine Bahrami | Dr. Daniel Drucker | Role of incretins in glucose homeostasis |
| Patrick Lam | Dr. Herbert Gaisano | The function of the exocytic Syntaxins (Syn-1A, -2, -3 -4) in islet beta-cells |
Yow Kam-Yuen Graduate Scholarship in Diabetes Research
The following student has been offered a Yow Kam-Yuen Graduate Scholarship commencing September 2005:
| Applicant | Supervisor(s) |
Title of Research |
| Karen Sison | Dr. George Fantus and Dr. Susan Quaggin | Role of VEGF in Diabetic Nephropathy |
**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