3 minute read
Portraits of diabetes
Richard Siemens and James Shapiro
RICHARD SIEMENS (LEFT) Type 1 diabetes, diagnosed 1959. Pancreas and kidney transplant recipient Portraits of Diabetes photographer winning Gold 2018 Circle of Excellence award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education
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JAMES SHAPIRO (RIGHT) Director, U of A’s Clinical Islet Transplant Program Canada Research Chair in Transplantation Surgery and Regenerative Medicine Diabetes Canada’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Leader of the original Edmonton Protocol team. Now investigating the use of stem cells instead of islet cells during the transplantation procedure
SEE THE AWARD-WINNING PHOTOS AT UAB.CA/POD
The Alberta Diabetes Institute marked its 10th anniversary by unveiling a series of portraits of people living with diabetes.
AUTHORS
MJ FELL AND SALENA KITTERINGHAM
PHOTOS BY
RICHARD SIEMENS
THE POIGNANT BLACK-AND-WHITE
Portraits of Diabetes by U of A photographer Richard Siemens now line the halls of the Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Research Innovation.
By putting diverse faces to the disease, Portraits of Diabetes offers a glimpse into the highs and the lows of life with diabetes. With one million Albertans living with diabetes or prediabetes, the images speak to the importance of ongoing support for diabetes research. The photography project was made possible through collaboration and support from Alberta Diabetes Foundation, Alberta Diabetes Institute and Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.
DECADE OF DIABETES RESEARCH PROGRESS TRACES BACK A CENTURY
“There’s always been a rich history of diabetes research in Edmonton at the University of Alberta, dating all the way back to the early 1920s and the work of James Collip, a local biochemist who purified insulin,” said Peter Light, director of the Alberta Diabetes Institute.
The city’s name was officially put on the world’s diabetes research map in 2000, with the development of the Edmonton Protocol, an internationally recognized procedure that implants insulinproducing islet cells into the liver of a person with Type 1 diabetes, often allowing for insulin independence. Ray Rajotte, founding director of the Alberta Diabetes Institute and professor emeritus of surgery and medicine, laid the crucial groundwork for the Edmonton Protocol, now the gold standard for islet transplantation.
Today, under one roof, more than 65 principal investigators from diverse fields study the complexity of diabetes. While their research projects are diverse, all Alberta Diabetes Institute members share the same goal: to improve the lives of people with diabetes and to find a cure.
ARUN PATEL Type 2 diabetes, diagnosed 1991 PATRICK MACDONALD Director, Alberta Diabetes Institute’s IsletCore Diabetes Canada’s Young Scientist Award recipient Unravelling the cellular biology that underpins the function of pancreatic islets
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Rose Yeung and Kailan Siegel
ROSE YEUNG Assistant professor, Endocrinology and Metabolism
Integrating diabetes care delivery with patient empowerment and education
KAILAN SIEGEL Type 1 diabetes, diagnosed 2006
Peter Light and Siyapreet Brar
PETER LIGHT Director, Alberta Diabetes Institute Dr. Charles A. Allard Chair in Diabetes Research
Genetically engineering islet cells and immune cells to improve islet transplantation outcomes
SIYAPREET BRAR
Arun Patel and Patrick MacDonald
Type 1 diabetes, diagnosed 2016
Peter Senior and Bob Teskey
PETER SENIOR (LEFT) Medical director, Clinical Islet Transplant Program Pursuing novel therapies for preventing kidney-function loss in diabetes patients BOB TESKEY (RIGHT) Type 1 diabetes, diagnosed 1961 One of seven patients in the original Edmonton Protocol
clinical trial
Jessica Yue and Kira Heck
JESSICA YUE Assistant professor, Physiology Investigating how the brain regulates fat and sugar metabolism KIRA HECK Type 2 diabetes, diagnosed 2014
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