Diabetes

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It’s a discovery that could lead to new therapies for people with brain injuries or neurodegenerative diseases: a common diabetes drug can help turn brain stem cells into nerve cells.

The study, led by Dr. Freda Miller, Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto and Senior Scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is published in the July 5 advance online edition of Cell Stem Cell.

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In this third instalment of our series on type 2 diabetes and the work of U of T researchers, writer Jenny Hall talks with Greg Wells about the relationship between type 2 diabetes and exercise.

A professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education and an associate scientist in physiology and exercise medicine at the Hospital for Sick Children, Wells is at the forefront of the new field of exercise medicine, which investigates the use of physical activity to treat and prevent chronic disease.

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The Canadian Diabetes Association reports that nine million Canadians live with diabetes or prediabetes and 20 new cases are diagnosed every hour. For this first instalment in a series on diabetes and the work of U of T researchers, writer Jenny Hall sat down with Dr. Bernard Zinman, professor of medicine at U of T and senior investigator at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital.

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Ninety years after Frederick Banting, Charles Best, John Macleod and Bertram Collip uncovered the role of insulin in diabetes, the legacy of their ground-breaking discovery has a place to call home.  A new exhibit at MaRS Discovery called Insulin: Toronto’s Gift to the World lets anyone walk through a day in the life of the discovery and lives of the famous University of Toronto scientists.