Grant: Netherlands-Canada Type 2 Diabetes Consortium - Travel Award - ECR

As an Early Career Researcher, I hope to offer a unique perspective and methodological approaches to investigating the mechanisms that contribute to the development of T2D and identifying strategies for its prevention and treatment. Indeed our human experimentations include a unique integration of medical imaging (PET and MRI) combined with tools to measure tissue and whole-body metabolism and body composition. Our expertise and resources offer integrated mechanistic views into in energy metabolism under real-life conditions directly relevant for human T2D pathophysiology. This methodological approach has led to our most significant contributions to T2D research, being the first to show cold-induced brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis in humans without and with T2D and demonstrating the ability of cold exposure to remove circulating glucose and insulin. It has also led to the development of several fruitful collaborations, which required the implementation of our methodologies in laboratories in the USA (University of Colorado), Europe (University of Granada) and Canada (McMaster University). Other Team Grants have allowed us to integrate our methodological approaches within a broader research question and collaboration. Pr. P. Schrauwen and his colleagues, regrouping 7 of the 19 awardees of the Diabetes II Breakthrough Projects competition in the Netherlands approached me and my colleagues André Carpentier (Sherbrooke), Gary Lewis (Toronto) and Jean-Pierre Després (Quebec City) to join them and build on our expertise in T2D research to develop a consortium focusing on interventions to prevent and treat T2D based on day-night cycle changes in neuroendocrine/metabolic regulation. We aim to participate in the symposium to meet with our colleagues and develop common scientific goals and protocols, training and mentoring, knowledge translation and patient engagement activities, and administrative aspects.