Current Methods for Investigating the Complications of Diabetes

TOPICAL COLLECTIONS

Guest Editors

Kirsten Riches-Suman

University of Bradford, School of Chemistry and Biosciences

Dr. Kirsten Riches-Suman is a Lecturer in Biomedical Science at the University of Bradford. She completed her PhD in Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Leeds in 2008, under the supervision of Dr. Karen Porter and the late Prof. Chris Peers. Her project identified molecular mechanisms underpinning the impairment of cardiac fibroblast function following myocardial infarction. Following this, Kirsten continued her research at Leeds examining the influence of disorders such as type 2 diabetes and abdominal aortic aneurysm on the behaviour of multiple primary vascular cell types. In 2015 she accepted a lectureship at the University of Bradford to start her independent career. The focus of Kirsten’s laboratory is dissecting the changes that occur in the vascular system with type 2 or gestational diabetes, how this contributes to heart disease, and identifying new therapeutic targets that may help to counteract this. Through collaboration with clinicians, all the work in Kirsten’s laboratory is performed on primary human smooth muscle and endothelial cells. She has recently started a parallel program of work assessing how diabetes affects the small microvessels in the skin and how this impacts impaired wound healing in these patients. Alongside her research, Kirsten is passionate about addressing the gender gap in science and is involved in a number of initiatives to increase recruitment, retention, and recognition of women and girls in STEM.

Romana Mughal

University of Huddersfield, School of Applied Sciences

Dr Romana Mughal is a lecturer in the department of Optometry and Vision Sciences at the University of Huddersfield. She completed her MSc (2007) and PhD (2011) in the field of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Leeds. As a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Professor Mark Kearney, Romana’s research studied the mechanistic links between type 2 diabetes mellitus and vascular disease at the tissue, cellular, and molecular level. She later joined Novo Nordisk, Denmark, as an International STAR postdoctoral researcher. There, using a combination of in vivo, ex vivo and in vitro methods, her research investigated the functional significance of insulin receptor and insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor hybrids in the vasculature under a type 2 diabetes scenario. Romana has since developed an interest in understanding the processes which underlie diabetic eye disease in Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. As voluntary service, Romana is acting board member for Health-Point Foundation, and part of an international effort to deliver healthcare services to displaced individuals in Greece.

Collection Overview

The prevalence of diabetes is growing at an alarming rate, with 1 in 11 members of the adult population suffering from the condition globally. In addition to impaired glucose control, patients with diabetes are at a much higher risk of developing complications that affect almost all bodily systems. Diabetic retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy, and cardiomyopathy are all well recognized cognate conditions, and patients suffer premature and widespread development of atherosclerosis, leading to heart disease and stroke. Alongside this, patients are more susceptible to infection and have poor wound healing responses, resulting in chronic wounds that can lead to amputation. Whilst advances in glucose control have helped to reduce some of these complications, it is not effective in normalizing all, and further research is necessary in order to design therapeutics to combat these devastating conditions.

Current research into diabetes encompasses clinical, in vivo, ex vivo and in vitro approaches. Each of these models has strengths and weaknesses, and it is likely that any advances in treatment for diabetes complications will come from a combination of multiple models. The present collection will collate the most recent cutting-edge techniques used to assess the establishment, pathogenesis, or treatment of diabetes complications. It will share standardized protocols for preclinical or clinical assessments, including biochemical, histological, or imaging techniques. Altogether, the collection will promote sharing of information that enhances our ability to examine the complications of diabetes in a cross-disciplinary and global manner.