Diabetes: From Beta Cells to Bicycles

On this episode, host Krista Lamb chats with registered dietitian Olivia Wu about sustainable nutrition and type 2 diabetes.Olivia Wu is a certified diabetes educator and master's student in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia, under the supervision of our previous guest Dr. Tamara Cohen.  

On this episode, Dr. Tamara Cohen joins host Krista Lamb to talk about her research and work developing an app that supports healthy eating in a way that's inclusive, supportive and easy.Dr. Cohen is the Director of Dietetics and an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Land and Food Systems.

Older adults with type 2 diabetes face unique challenges—and they're often a very under-studied group. Dr. Graydon Meneilly has spent more than three decades studying diabetes and carbohydrate metabolism in the elderly in order to improve treatments and outcomes.Dr. Meneilly  is a gerontologist and a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia.

While genetics play a role in type 2 diabetes development and risk, so too does the world around us. Everything from minimum wage, to government policy, to how we manage major life transitions can impact our T2D risk. Epidemiologist Dr. Annalijn Conklin explains their work using factors like these to try and improve health outcomes. Dr. Conklin is an associate professor at UBC in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and leads a program of social epidemiology and metabolic outcomes research (SEMOR) to support healthy aging and reduce heart health inequities in women in Canada.

Medical genetics may be able to help us better predict the risk of type 2 diabetes, and maybe even how to modify risk. Dr. William Gibson discusses his research in this area, as well as what he has learned from studying the genetics behind very unique forms of diabetes.Dr. Gibson is an Investigator at the BC Children's Hospital, a Senior Clinician Scientist at the Laboratory for Obesity Genetics and Indirect Calorimetry (LOGIC) at BC Children's Hospital Research Institute. In addition, he is a Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia.

By studying the biological differences between people from different sexes, could we find ways to improve health outcomes for women and their children? Dr. Angela Devlin is trying to find out. From gestational diabetes to the role of folate in our pancreas, she has much to share about this work.Dr. Devlin  is a Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, an Investigator at the BC Children's Hospital, Co-Director of the Women+ and Children's Health Research Graduate Program at the University of British Columbia, and Director of the Healthy Starts Research Theme at the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute.

For far too long, biological sex differences were not factored into research projects. Scientists like Dr. Elizabeth Rideout are changing that. In this episode, Dr. Rideout, an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia's Department of Cellular and Physiological Services, explains the work her lab is doing, including studies into the different ways male and female beta cells respond to stress in type 2 diabetes.

Dr. Francis Lynn is an associate professor in the Department of Surgery at the School of Biomedical Engineering at the University of British Columbia. On this episode, he and host Krista Lamb discuss his research working with beta cells and stem cells in the search for improved treatments for diabetes. 

Dr. Brian Rodrigues is a Professor in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia.In this week's episode, Dr. Rodrigues and host Krista Lamb discuss his research into diabetes and the heart.During diabetes, the heart switches to using fats exclusively as an energy supply. Dr. Rodrigues is interested in examining the mechanism of how fat fuels are provided to the heart and how excess fats can lead to cardiac disease. Appreciating this mechanism should allow the identification of novel targets for therapeutic intervention to prevent heart failure during diabetes. 

Dr. Sarah Gray is an Associate Professor in the Northern Medical Program at the University of Northern British Columbia and an Affiliate Associate Professor in the Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences at UBC. Dr. Gray’s work examines the biological mechanisms of metabolism as it relates to obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Dr. Jonathan Little is an associate professor at the School of Health and Exercise at the University of British Columbia. His work studies diet and exercise in type 2 diabetes. Little's research explores how different exercise and nutritional strategies can be used to i) prevent, treat or reverse type 2 diabetes; ii) reduce inflammation and iii) improve overall cardiometabolic health.”

Dr. Mary Jung is an associate professor at the School of Health and Exercise at the University of British Columbia. Her major research area is self-regulation of health behaviours, with a specialization in exercise, physical activity, and dietary behaviours, and the creation of community-based interventions for individuals at risk or living with type 2 diabetes. 

Host Krista Lamb is joined by BC Diabetes Research Network researcher and UBC professor Dr. Rachel Murphy, who researches the link between nutrition and chronic diseases, including diabetes and cancer. She discusses how proper diet and nutrition can benefit overall health, and help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.Learn more about Dr. Rachel Murphy and her research by clicking here and following her on Twitter.Visit us at diabetesBC.ca and follow @BCDiabResNet for updates!

Host Krista Lamb is joined by BC Diabetes Research Network researcher and UBC professor Dr. Robert Boushel, whose research focuses on the effects of exercise on diabetes and other metabolic syndromes. He describes his systems-wide approach to exercise research, and the recent studies indicating that exercise can lead to the remission of type 2 diabetes in adults.Learn more about Dr. Robert Boushel and his research by clicking here and following him on Twitter.Visit us at diabetesBC.ca and follow @BCDiabResNet for updates!

Host Krista Lamb is joined by BC Diabetes Research Network researcher and UBC professor Dr. Angela Devlin, whose academic background is in pediatric nutrition and infant metabolic development. She talks about her multi-disciplinary approach to research in obesity and risk of type 2 diabetes in children, as well as early interventions in pregnancy and early childhood diets. Learn more about Dr. Angela Devlin and her research by clicking here and following her on Twitter.Visit us at diabetesBC.ca and follow @BCDiabResNet for updates!

Host Krista Lamb is joined by BC Diabetes Research Network researcher and UBC professor Dr. Jim Johnson, whose lab studies the basics of beta cell biology, and the whole-body impacts of dysfunctional beta cells using multi-disciplinary approaches. He discusses the recent shift towards beta cell research in understanding both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.Learn more about Dr. Jim Johnson and his research by clicking here and following him on Twitter.Visit us at diabetesBC.ca and follow @BCDiabResNet for updates!

Host Krista Lamb is joined by BC Diabetes Research Network trainee and UBC PhD student Priye Iworima, who works in Dr. Timothy Kieffer’s lab at UBC’s Life Sciences Institute. Her current research involves using stem cells to generate insulin-producing cells, and optimizing the process for potential replacement cell therapy in patients living with type 1 diabetes.Learn more about the research being done in the Kieffer lab by clicking here and following Priye on Twitter.Visit us at diabetesBC.ca and follow @BCDiabResNet for updates!

In our first episode, host Krista Lamb talks to BC Diabetes Research Network lead and UBC professor Dr. Bruce Verchere, who introduces the network and its goal of bringing diabetes researchers together to ultimately find a cure for diabetes. He also describes his lab’s ongoing research on beta cell function and biomarkers to better understand and predict diabetes.Learn more about Dr. Bruce Verchere and his research by clicking here and following him on Twitter.Visit us at diabetesBC.ca and follow @BCDiabResNet for updates!

Sneak Preview of the official BC Diabetes Research Network podcast, From Beta Cells to Bicycles.Listen to the first episode on January 15, 2020, and every second Wednesday thereafter.Visit us at diabetesBC.ca and follow @BCDiabResNet for updates!