15 November 2019
Media release
Diabetes grants to drive pioneering research
The Institute’s researchers have been successful in securing four Diabetes Australia Research Program grants to help better understand diabetes complications, including diabetic cardiomyopathy – a disorder of the heart muscle in people with diabetes.
Diabetic cardiomyopathy can lead to an inability of the heart to circulate blood through the body effectively, a condition known as heart failure. Heart Failure is increasing at an alarming rate and the outcomes for people with diabetes are considerably worse.
Other research will look at the role of a protein called PSMD9 to see if silencing it might lead to a new therapy to treat conditions such as diabetes and fatty liver disease.
The grants, announced on World Diabetes Day, will be presented to researchers at a special ceremony at the State Library of Victoria this evening. This year’s focus of World’s Diabetes Day is on protecting your family.
Diabetes is the fastest growing chronic condition in Australia; 280 Australians develop diabetes every day – that is one person every five minutes, which is why research in this area is critical.
The Institute has a long, proud history of diabetes discoveries dating back more than 93 years and is grateful to Diabetes Australia for these grants to continue this pioneering work.
The successful recipients and their projects were:
- Dr Alex Pinto
Cell and sex-specific drivers of diabetic cardiomyopathy
- Dr Brian Drew
Silencing PSMD9 to treat fatty liver disease, diabetes and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis
- Dr Aowen Zhuang
lncOIP is a novel regulator of diabetic cardiomyopathy
- Professor Dianna Magliano
Measuring the burden and trends of diabetes complications in Australia: a linkage study
For further information or to organise interviews please contact:
Tracey Ellis
T: 03 8532 1514
M: 0433 781 972
E: tracey.ellis@baker.edu.au
