On behalf of Insulin to Innovation, RCIScience presents a series of engaging conversations with diabetes researchers from across Canada. Hosted by writer and podcast host Krista Lamb, these bitesize chats showcase scientists and clinicians working at the cutting edge of research to improve the quality of life of those living with diabetes.
Submit your questions live or in advance by emailing information@rciscience.ca.
About the Speakers
Host: Krista Lamb
Krista Lamb is a writer, communications professional and podcast host. She specializes in helping translate complex medical, scientific and health-related topics into interesting and understandable stories for diverse mediums. Krista is the producer and host of the Diabetes Canada Podcast, which won the Canadian Podcast Award for Outstanding Health and Fitness Series in 2020. She also hosts the From Beta Cells to Bicycles podcast for the BC Diabetes Research Network and the Actions on Diabetes Podcast with Diabetes Action Canada. Her first book, Beyond Banting: From insulin to islet transplants, decoding Canada’s diabetes research superstars, is available now.
Dr. Ananya Banarjee is Assistant Professor at the School of Population & Global Health, McGill University and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. She is the founder of the South Asian Health Research Hub a unique program of interdisciplinary research that embeds a strong emphasis on community-based participatory research (CBPR), which is rooted in collaboration and partnership. Often, the research questions funded by the Social Science & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) she pursues are community-defined problems in the context of the social determinants of diabetes and health equity. Engaging with South Asian community partners, she examines epidemiologic trends, conducts qualitative research, designs evidence-based health programs and produces compelling digital stories that integrate multimedia materials including photos, participant voices, drawings, and music to inform policy implementation. She serves as the National Consultant Editor, Social Determinants of Health for the Canadian Journal of Diabetes.
Taylor Morriseau is an Indigenous scholar and PhD candidate at the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba. Her CIHR Vanier research examines early-onset type 2 diabetes among Indigenous youth in Manitoba. She is proud to represent her own community, Peguis First Nation in her commitment to broader scientific and societal challenges as a member of the inaugural Chief Science Advisor’s Youth Council.
Dr. Patrick MacDonald completed his PhD at the University of Toronto and then trained in Sweden and the UK. In 2006 he returned to Canada and established his research laboratory at the University of Alberta and the Alberta Diabetes Institute where he is currently a Professor and Canada Research Chair. Patrick’s work focuses on understanding the cell biology of insulin, particularly in humans. His laboratory works to understand how insulin secretion by the pancreas is regulated and what problems may occur with this in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Through this work Patrick and his team have also established a biobanking program to isolate islet cells from organ donors for diabetes research around the world.
Dr. Mary Jung is an associate professor in the School of Health and Exercise Sciences at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus in Kelowna, BC. Dr. Jung is currently a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Career Foundation Grant recipient and is head of the Diabetes Prevention Research Group, founder of the diabetes prevention program “Small Steps for Big Changes”, and director of the Centre for Health Behaviour Change. Her overarching research interests lie in the area of self-regulation of health behaviours, with particular focus on dietary and exercise adherence for the prevention of type 2 diabetes. Dr. Jung’s current funded studies span health program evaluation, effectiveness of mHealth technologies, exercise counselling for individuals with prediabetes, and exercise adherence randomized controlled trials. She works with the community in formulating what the next research endeavors are to ensure that research is meaningful and useful to those who will use the knowledge.