Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) accounts for 90% of the 382 million cases of diabetes worldwide, a staggering number that continues to rise. T2D increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, amputation, kidney failure and blindness. This disease is a major burden to the health care system and the well-being of Canadians, and a better treatment is needed. T2D begins with insulin resistance, which is a process where the body loses the ability to respond to insulin, a hormone that signals the body to uptake sugar from the bloodstream. As a result, the body produces more insulin to compensate. We found that high levels of insulin can reduce the functions of regulatory T cells (Tregs), a type of immune cells that stop unwanted inflammation. We think that this inhibition of Tregs may lead to increased inflammation in fat tissues, which can then make insulin resistance worse. Testing this idea will lead us to better understand how the immune system contributes to T2D. If we find that the loss of Treg function contributes to insulin resistance, we can then test whether enhancing Tregs can be a new effective therapy for T2D. Overall, this research may lead to a new treatment for T2D and have a significant impact on the quality of life of Canadians T2D patients and their families.