Four talented junior researchers have received grants from the Danish Diabetes Academy that enable them to complete either their PhD or postdoc programme at Health. This is good news for diabetes research both nationally and internationally, as the junior researchers collaborate with colleagues from elite universities.

2019.06.18 | Sabina Bjerre Hansen

With grants from the Danish Diabetes Academy, four young researchers are given the opportunity to contribute to diabetes research at Health in the coming years. Photo: Private.

Luke Johnston, Sarah Bisgaard Olesen, Xiaoli Hu and Indumathi Kumarathas carry out research into diabetes-related diseases and the health challenges that follow. All four have been chosen by an international advisory board from among more than a hundred applicants, and now they will begin either a PhD programme or a postdoc programme at Health financed by the Danish Diabetes Academy.

From nerve inflammation to trauma during childhood – with diabetes as the focal point

The four grant recipients, all of whom will in future be based at Health, carry out research into different aspects of diabetes.

Luke Johnston will use his postdoc programme to study the correlation between a difficult childhood and the risk of developing diabetes later in life. Does the risk increase if e.g. the child’s parents divorced, ran into severe financial problems or emigrated? And if so, can we develop more effective strategies for prevention and for the treatment of those patients who develop type 2 diabetes after traumatic experiences early in life? Luke Johnston is affiliated with the Department of Public Health and the Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus. His postdoc is being financed with DKK 1.8 million from the Danish Diabetes Academy.

Sarah Bisgaard Olesen will use her interdisciplinary PhD programme, which also involves researchers from the Department of Clinical Medicine, to hunt for the ‘missing link’ between a small sugar substance and the role it potentially plays in the development of age-related diseases such as diabetes. The initial aim is to map out the central proteins, while the dream is to contribute to slowing down the development of the disease. Sarah Bisgaard Olesen receives a grant of DKK 1.1 million from the Danish Diabetes Academy and will be affiliated with the Department of Forensic Medicine.

Xiaoli Hu is affiliated with the Department of Clinical Medicine in a PhD programme in which she will carry out research into nerve inflammation – one of the many dreaded side effects of diabetes. Xiaoli Hu aims to discover why some patients suffer pain, while others with the same diagnosis do not. Whether the nerve fibres of the patients suffering pain have more ‘pain molecules’ than those of the patients who are pain-free. If this is the case, it would be possible to explain why some patients become numb and cannot, for example, feel the difference between cold and warm water, while others e.g. find a light stroke of their hand very painful. Xiaoli Hu receives a grant of DKK 1.1 million.

Indumathi Kumarathas carries out research into non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which affect an increasing number of Danes due to the fact that there are more overweight people who have type 2 diabetes. The disease can be a precursor of heart failure, but no one knows precisely why this is. Indumathi Kumarathas will therefore, among other things, investigate disturbances in the metabolism of fats and sugars in the heart, liver, muscles and adipose tissue to be able to describe the possible mechanisms and any correlations – and in order to improve the treatment options for patients in the long term. She receives a grant of DKK 1.1 million and will be affiliated with the Department of Biomedicine.

More about the Danish Diabetes Academy and the grants

The Danish Diabetes Academy was founded in 2012 with the aim of strengthening Danish diabetes research and treatment by helping to train the diabetes researchers and therapists of the future. The academy is supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Danish universities and university hospitals.

This time around, the Danish Diabetes Academy has made grants totalling DKK 15 million to six PhD programmes and five postdoc programmes. See the complete list of recipients at www.danishdiabetesacademy.dk