Actions on Diabetes Podcast

Clinical trials are the way we test new drugs or therapies on people, and they’re incredibly important to moving diabetes research forward. However, they can be challenging and complicated to develop and fund.

That’s where the new Diabetes Clinical Trials Network in Canada comes in.

This episode’s guests are Dr. Hertzel Gerstein, who is leading this new Network, and Diabetes Action Canada’s Executive Director, Tracy McQuire. They explain why the organizations have partnered with a goal of improving the pathway to moving the best clinical trials in diabetes forward faster.

Diabetes is a 24-hour condition with no vacations or days off. Those who live with it understand that diabetes distress – the term for mental health challenges specific to diabetes – is very real and can be very challenging to manage. It can also have a big impact on other aspects of diabetes care – like this A1Cs doctors are always checking.

This episode’s guests will give listeners lots to think about when it comes to diabetes and mental health – and how Diabetes Action Canada is at the forefront of new programs aimed at improving mental health in everyone with diabetes.

Host Krista Lamb with talk to guests Dr. Carly Whitmore, an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University, and Linxi Mytkolli, Diabetes Action Canada’s Lead of Patient Engagement and Knowledge Mobilization and a person living with diabetes.

Often newcomers don’t know about access to eye screening, or there are cultural or other barriers that aren’t being addressed. But early detection of diabetic retinopathy can save sight and have a huge impact on the overall health of a person.

Today’s guests want to make sure those barriers are overcome. Host Krista Lamb talks to Dr. Joyce Dogba from the University of Laval and Patient Partner Pascual Delgado about their work on the Diabetes Action Canada Immigrant Patient Circle and on reducing barriers to care for all.

On this episode of Actions on Diabetes, host Krista Lamb will be chatting with two guests who are looking at ways to improve the coordination of care for people living with type 1 diabetes. The Reshape T1D project tries to understand how people interact with the health care system by involving those living with T1D and their clinicians in designing the research process.

Our guests are Jamie Boisvenue, a PhD student at the Alberta Diabetes Institute and the University of Alberta, and Patient Partner Kathleen Gibson. They are hoping to highlight have lived experience to help clinicians provide better patient-forward care.

Learn more about Reshape T1D. 

Host Krista Lamb talks with Dr. Diana Sherifali from McMaster University’s School of Nursing and Patient Partner Seeta Ramdass who are working together on a project aimed at using virtual health coaching to better support people living with type 2 diabetes.

Think Patient Partners can’t participate in discovery-level research? Think again!

Host Krista Lamb talks with Dr. Rob Screaton from the University of Toronto, Patient Partner Zoe Hilton and trainee scientist Cassie Locatelli. These three guests are working on a project incorporating Patient Partners into an islet biology training program.

In episode six, Dr. Anne-Sophie Brazeau and Nathalie Kinnard discuss the BETTER registry and the research they are doing in Quebec to help people with T1D manage or prevent hypoglycemia.

Episode five looks at Project OPEN and its potential to reduce the risk of diabetic retinopathy. Malcolm Sissmore and Dr. Michael Brent from UHN Research discuss how this program is trying to make eye screening much more accessible for people living with diabetes.

Episode four discusses how we can use data to improve health care. Guests Devin Cleary and Dr. Alanna Weisman discuss their research projects in this area – in particular how they are trying to improve outcomes for people with type 1 diabetes.

Episode three features Ron Beleno and Dr. Rebecca Gannan discussing their work on involving older adults and their caregivers in diabetes research.

Episode two features Amina Khan and Dr. Ananya Banerjee discussing their work on a research program that’s investigating type 2 diabetes risk in the South Asian community and breaking down some of the stereotypes.

Episode six features Kylie Peacock, a Diabetes Action Canada Patient Partner and Conrad Pow, a Senior Project Manager at Diabetes Action Canada discussing the National Diabetes Repository and how Diabetes Action Canada is using data to change lives.

Episode five features Jen Hanson, Executive Director at Connected in Motion, and Dr. Shivani Goyal, Associate Director of Product at eHealth Innovation, discussing the ways technology is changing diabetes and how Diabetes Action Canada is ensuring patient voices are at the table.

On episode four, Patient Partner Tom Weisz and Dr. Charles de Mestral discuss the work being done by the Diabetes Action Canada foot care and amputation prevention team, which is looking at community-based approaches to improving treatments and avoiding lower limb amputations.

Episode three features an interview with Patient Partner Kate Farnsworth and Dr. Bruce Perkins about closed loop technologies and the DIY looping community.

Respectful engagement of Indigenous Peoples in patient-oriented research

Episode one features an interview with Patient Partner Dana Greenberg and Dr. Holly Witteman about the role of patients as Research Partners.

Episode one features an interview with Patient Partner Anna DiGiandomenico and University of Calgary researcher Dr. David Campbell who discuss their work on a research program that’s shedding light on the impact of homelessness on diabetes treatment and care.