Victorian researchers secure new funding for pivotal diabetes research

“Diabetes Victoria strives to support world class research in diabetes to further our understanding of this serious and complex condition. Every dollar spent on research is an important investment. Each research project funded may hold a vital key to that next breakthrough,” says Diabetes Victoria CEO, Glen Noonan.

Diabetes Victoria is a proud supporter of the Diabetes Australia Research Program (DARP).

“Since 1987, we have been a significant contributor to the DARP funding pool, supporting more than 350 diabetes research projects in Victoria. This includes contributing more than $19 million over the past decade alone,” Mr Noonan adds.

Research is critically important to help tackle the diabetes epidemic in Australia, with the number of people diagnosed continuing to grow in numbers and impact.

Diabetes is a relentless condition to manage, requiring significant efforts every day to keep glucose levels within a safe range. This is to avoid both low and high glucose levels, which can cause serious complications, including coma, heart attack, stroke, vision loss, amputations and kidney damage.

“But it’s not just the physical impacts of diabetes that we are concerned about. Diabetes takes a toll on mental health. And every day, through our advocacy helpline, we hear that some people with diabetes still experience discrimination, e.g. in schools and workplaces, and many, many more face stigma in their everyday lives. Research is needed more than ever to improve both the health and quality of life of people with diabetes,” Mr Noonan says.

The 2023 DARP funded projects are seeking answers to a range of very diverse questions, highlighting that diabetes is a complex condition that can impact almost every cell and organ in the body, and every aspect of a person’s life.

Among the researchers to receive funding is Dr John Karas. His study is seeking to develop a new oral form of insulin. He is trying to solve a problem that has plagued diabetes researchers for almost 100 years – the oral delivery of insulin as capsules or tablets. Scientists have struggled to make insulin as a pill, because insulin is unstable and degrades quickly in the body as soon as it is digested.

This is why insulin is still given as an injection or via a continuous infusion by an insulin pump.
All people with type 1 diabetes and around one quarter of people with type 2 diabetes need to inject insulin every day.

Diabetes Stigma

Another promising and DARP‐funded project is led by Dr Elizabeth Holmes‐Truscott from Deakin University and the Australian Centre for Behavioural Research in Diabetes (ACBRD).

Dr HolmesTruscott seeks to investigate how negative perceptions around diabetes and diabetes stigma affect women with gestational diabetes. This type of diabetes is growing at a considerable rate, affecting one in six pregnancies.

Dr HolmesTruscott’s work has already shown that stigma substantially adds to the burden of living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Now, with this new funding, she will be able to examine how it affects the emotional wellbeing, self‐care and outcomes of women with gestational diabetes.

The Victorian recipients of the 2023 DARP grants come from many of Melbourne’s most well‐known institutions including Monash University, the University of Melbourne, Deakin University, St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research and Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute.