Diabetes Research Is Very Exciting

Diabetes Research Is Very Exciting 1 Issue WELCOME to the 6th Diabetes Research Team Newsletter August 2012 This newsletter will be produced four ...
Author: Julia Robbins
3 downloads 0 Views 332KB Size
Diabetes Research Is Very Exciting

1

Issue

WELCOME to the 6th Diabetes Research Team Newsletter August 2012

This newsletter will be produced four times a year. The aim is to keep everyone informed about what is going on in our ever-expanding department. If you have any ideas for articles or features for future newsletters please email [email protected]

Department of Diabetes Research mission statement: We aim to function as an internationally recognised dynamic multidisciplinary research team focused on developing, implementing and evaluating evidence based diabetes care which is ethical, innovative and excellent. Vision: We will strive to continue to be internationally recognised as leaders in diabetes research that improves the quality of life and outcomes for people at risk of and diagnosed with diabetes Values: Our research is guided by our values in all that we do: • • • •

Integrity and honesty Fairness and respect for the dignity and needs of individuals Responsibility and accountability for our actions Providing support and encouragement for everyone to achieve their personal goals • Striving for excellence

Diabetes Research Team UHL

06

Leicester Diabetes Research reaches ITV Central news once again

Research can be full of surprises. One moment papers/ project grants are rejected; the next local news stations can be asking you for interviews. Earlier this month I was fortunate to experience the latter. The University of Leicester noticed a paper published in Diabetes Care titled 'The independent effect of ethnicity on glycaemia in South Asians and White Europeans' (link below). This paper reveals South Asians have higher levels of HbA1c, fasting and twohour plasma glucose (all the tests we use for diabetes diagnosis) compared to Europeans even after accounting for risk factors that we associate with diabetes such as age, gender, obesity, high blood pressure and lipids. It means either there are other unexplored risk factors for South Asians that may come into play (perhaps vitamin D) or that South Asians just have higher blood sugars naturally. The University asked for a press release; I agreed but never believed what happened next. BBC East Midlands News and ITV Central news both asked for interviews. Unfortunately due to time reasons we could only accommodate the latter. So after a big rush to remember what I actually wrote in the paper and more importantly to find an ironed shirt (and a tie), I stood in front of a TV camera and was asked all sorts of questions. The piece produced by ITV central news focused on diabetes prevalence throughout the Midlands, as well as having a diabetes case study and a Bollywood film star (unfortunately I didn't get to meet to her). Later I did radio interviews with Sunrise Radio and a live broadcast with BBC Radio Leicester. Watching the interview at home was slightly embarrassing...but as this was more publicity for Leicester Diabetes Research it was worth all of it! Thank you to Rita and Mo for their time and assistance, David for advice beforehand and of course, everyone who has contributed to ADDITION, where the original data came from. Contributed by Sam Mostafa Abstract to paper (http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2012/06/11/dc11-2079.abstract) University press release: http://www2.le.ac.uk/news/blog/2012/july/new-study-highlights-diabetes-risk-forsouth-asians ITV central news: http://vimeo.com/46370680

Diabetes Research Team UHL

Leicester-Loughborough Diet, Lifestyle & Physical Activity Biomedical Research Unit Three NHS and University research partnerships in Leicester have been awarded a combined £15.5 million in funding to help them to develop and translate new scientific discoveries into ground-breaking medicines, treatments and better care for all NHS patients. This is part of the UK’s largest ever investment in ‘early stage’ health research. It will fund advances in disease diagnosis, prevention and treatment, benefitting patients with diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Of these, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Foundation Trust has two awards with the University of Leicester, and one with Loughborough University as well as the University of Leicester, looking at cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and Diet, Lifestyle and Physical Activity State of the art exercise equipment has been installed and new staff have been appointed at both the Leicester Diabetes Centre (LDC) at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) and Loughborough University’s School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences (SSEHS). The NIHR Leicester-Loughborough Diet, Lifestyle and Physical Activity BRU was awarded £4.5 million (from the NIHR) over five years from April 2012. Loughborough is one of the leading institutions in exercise research and University Hospitals of Leicester in conjunction with the University of Leicester have internationally acclaimed researchers in the area of diabetes. This collaboration between the institutes signals an opportunity for these researchers in the East Midlands to become some of the leading experts internationally in the possibility of lifestyle, and in particular physical activity, interventions to both prevent and treat diseases such as diabetes. The funding will create nearly thirty new research posts. The NIHR Leicester-Loughborough Diet, Lifestyle and Physical Activity BRU will focus on improving health for patients with long term conditions such as diabetes, by using and improving upon therapeutic lifestyle interventions, for example increasing the amount of movement and physical activity people take part in, reducing time in sedentary behaviours, and other approaches such as the interplay of exercise and appetite control, and minimising weight re-gain after bariatric (such as gastric band) surgery.

LEFT: BRU exercise lab Diabetes Research Team UHL

The important work of the BRU will be integrated with and complement the UK’s first ever National Sports and Exercise Medicine Centre of Excellence based at Loughborough University, an Olympic legacy project recently announced by health Secretary Andrew Lansley. The Centre will help more people to be more active and less sedentary, treat injuries associated with exercise and conditions associated with lack of exercise or too much sitting. It will also help people use the benefits of physical activity and exercise to cope with existing medical conditions, such as diabetes. The BRU also forms an integral part of the Leicester Diabetes Centre (LDC) the first of its kind in the UK. The go to centre for research and treatment of diabetes, the LDC comprises the Diabetes Research Network, the national DESMOND programme (a structured health intervention programme for people with diabetes), postgraduate training for health professionals and a clinical diabetes service. Professor Melanie Davies (BRU Director) said: “Physical inactivity as it is estimated to be the fourth leading cause of death globally and our research will particularly include subjects from black and minority ethnic groups and young people at the highest risk of chronic diseases. The award of this BRU will allow us to become an International Centre of Research Excellence undertaking the full spectrum of lifestyle research which we believe will make a real difference, not only to people in the East Midlands but nationally and internationally. The award was made after an interview involving international experts from across the world including Australia, Canada, the US and Europe and was a highly competitive process but such an award will mean that we will be able to attract and retain some of the leading researchers, nationally and internationally in this area. Contributed by Tim Skelton; BRU Manager

Diabetes Research Team UHL

New Starters A big welcome to the following new members of staff:

Carol Akroyd – CLAHRC Early Detection Theme Manager Carol is responsible for the coordination of the Early Detection research portfolio, ensuring performance and recruitment to target as well as leading on CLAHRC initiatives for commercial and non commercial research. Marta Barbieri – Research Administrator Rose Knight – Research Administrator Della Laight - Research Administrator Della will be providing administrative support for the Education Team, primarily dealing with Masters Education and the new EDEN project. Della will also be responsible for the seminar room bookings on Air wing. Louise McNeill - Research Healthcare Assistant Tim Skelton - Diet, Lifestyle and Physical Activity BRU Manager Tim is the Manager for our new Diet, Lifestyle and Physical Activity Biomedical Research Unit. As the BRU Manager, Tim’s role will involve the financial, operational and managerial oversight of the BRU in order to set an excellent foundation for supporting the research that the unit will undertake. Balu Webb - Research Scientist I am a post-doctoral scientist and have been involved in diabetes research for the past 11 years. My main research interest has been looking into methods of improving islet cell transplantation which is procedure aimed at improving glucose control in patients with type I diabetes. Within this department I will principally be involved in setting up a laboratory for the analysis biomarkers in clinical trial samples, however going forward I hope to be complement the clinical trials research with various laboratory-based studies.

Diabetes Research Team UHL

EDEN Project The old PCT’s are being replaced by Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG), and our new Education Project is being launched in conjunction with the Leicester City CCG. It is to be called EDEN and stands for Effective Diabetes Education Now. It is a 3 year project, which will involve all 65 practices in the City CCG. We will specifically tailoring the Diabetes Education needs for each practice, based on existing data. The project will also incorporate in-house training through such platforms as Masters Education and the Mini Modules programme. The project is currently in the planning and development stages, with some pilot practices taking part from the end of August. The project is overseen by Professor Azhar Farooqi at the City CCG and led at the LDC by Heather Daly.

Publications & Grants All grant submissions and publications within the department are now being logged onto a database in order to create an efficient system. Dawn Newman is responsible for the maintenance of this database. If you have recently submitted any grants or had any papers published could you please email Dawn so that this can be logged. Email: [email protected]

Diabetes Research Team UHL

Developing Public Policy with Randomised Controlled Trials

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are the best way of determining whether a policy is working. They are now used extensively in international development, medicine, and business to identify which policy, drug or sales method is most effective. They are also at the heart of the Behavioural Insights Teams methodology. However, RCTs are not routinely used to test the effectiveness of public policy interventions in the UK. We think that they should be. What makes RCTs different from other types of evaluation is the introduction of a randomly assigned control group, which enables you to compare the effectiveness of a new intervention against what would have happened if you had changed nothing. The introduction of a control group eliminates a whole host of biases that normally complicate the evaluation process – for example, if you introduce a new “back to work” scheme, how will you know whether those receiving the extra support might not have found a job anyway? With the right academic and policy support, RCTs can be much cheaper and simpler to put in place than is often supposed. By enabling us to demonstrate just how well a policy is working, RCTs can save money in the long term - they are a powerful tool to help policymakers and practitioners decide which of several policies is the most cost effective, and also which interventions are not as effective as might have been supposed. It is especially important in times of shrinking public sector budgets to be confident that public money is spent on policies shown to deliver value for money. We have identified nine separate steps that are required to set up any RCT. Many of these steps will be familiar to anyone putting in place a well-designed policy evaluation.

For the full article please email [email protected]

Diabetes Research Team UHL

Dates for your diaries

RfPB Competition 19 Submission deadline: 1pm Friday 21st September Declaration and signatures deadline: Friday 28th September 2012

INVOLVE Conference 2012 ‘Putting people first in research’ 13th and 14th November, East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham http://www.profbriefings.co.uk/involve2012/index.html

NIHR Annual Trainee meeting Tuesday 20th November and Wednesday 21st November Queens Hotel, Leeds Registration opens 3rd September For more information go to: http://www.nihrtcc.nhs.uk/conference/6th%20Annual%20Trainee%20M eeting

Quote of the day: ‘Some of us have great runways already built for us. If you have one, take OFF! But if you don't have one, realize it is your responsibility to grab a shovel and build one for yourself and for those who will follow after you’ -

Amelia Earhart, Aviation Pioneer and Author, 1897 - ?

Diabetes Research Team UHL