Dr. Hertzel Gerstein has always had a passion for science and helping people. He channelled that into a career in medicine, completing a medical degree at the University of Toronto. It was here that he became interested in endocrinology, the study of hormones. This interest would lead Dr. Gerstein to become one of the foremost diabetes researchers in Canada.
In addition to being at the clinic, Dr. Gerstein worked in an endocrinology lab during his studies. This experience made him want to pursue clinical research – the branch of research science centred around patients. This brought him to Hamilton and McMaster University, where he completed a Master of Science degree in epidemiology. Soon after, he joined the Faculty of Medicine as an Assistant Professor.
At McMaster, Dr. Gerstein began focusing on diabetes research, with an emphasis on prevention and treatment. He has been studying dysglycemia, or abnormal glucose levels, as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Dr. Gerstein’s team was able to show that a rise in fasting blood glucose levels can be a predictor of a cardiovascular event.
Additionally, Dr. Gerstein has led several large-scale, international clinical trials examining the relationship between cardiovascular disease and diabetes. One such clinical trial was REWIND, a study investigating the relationship between the drug dulaglutide and cardiovascular events in diabetes patients. Dulaglutide produces a similar biological response to GLP-1, a hormone known to be involved with glucose regulation in the blood. Through the REWIND trial, he discovered that dulaglutide significantly reduced the risk of cardiovascular outcomes in patients with diabetes.
Dr. Gerstein is currently the Deputy Director at the Population Health Research Institute and the Director of the Diabetes Care and Research Program at Hamilton Health Sciences. In 2019, Dr. Gerstein was inducted into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, one of the country’s highest honours in the health science community.
When he is not conducting research, Dr. Gerstein enjoys musical theatre and song writing. In 2016, he wrote a song called “Diabetes – Let’s Defeat It” with the Diabetes Care and Research Program. He is currently working on a musical.
— Written by Shivani Seth