On January 12, 2026, Diabetes Action Canada (DAC) hosted its latest Network Action Session, bringing together researchers, Patient Partners, trainees, and community leaders from across the country to share progress, test ideas, and connect evidence to action across the Network.

Research to Action Fellowship: Turning Evidence into Tools

We kicked off the session with an update on the Research to Action Fellowship, led by Linxi Mytkolli, Director of Patient Engagement, highlighting how Fellows and partners are producing concrete, patient-driven tools to move research into real-world use.This year’s Fellowship projects focus on:

• diabetes stigma
• misdiagnosis and self-advocacy
• women’s health and diabetes
• cell therapy education
• diabetes technology decision-making

These projects are being developed in partnership with organizations including the Australian Centre for Behavioural Research in Diabetes, Indigenous Diabetes Health Circle, Tidepool, Alberta Diabetes Institute, and Children with Diabetes, ensuring each output is grounded in both evidence and lived experience.

Members were invited to review and contribute to these tools as they are being developed:
👉 https://linktr.ee/diabetesactioncanada

Diabetes Remission: Knowledge Mobilization in Practice

The session also featured a diabetes remission presentation from Dr. Diana Sherifali and Dr. Monika Kastner, using remission as a real-world case study to demonstrate DAC’s Knowledge Mobilization (KM) model in action. The team showed how complex and often inconsistent research evidence is translated into practical, usable outputs for patients, providers, and health systems.

Participants were walked through how the research team:

• maps what evidence exists on remission,
• identifies gaps and inconsistencies,
• integrates patient experience to clarify what the data means in real life, and
• translates insights into resources, messaging, and care-support tools.

This case study demonstrated why remission cannot be treated as a single clinical outcome, but must be supported by clear definitions, patient-centred communication, and decision-support tools that people can actually use in care.

👉 Learn more about DAC’s remission research and resources:
https://diabetesaction.ca/understanding-type-2-diabetes-remission-new-research-new-resources/

👉 Explore DAC’s Knowledge Mobilization tools and practice resources:
https://diabetesaction.ca/common-knowledge-translation-mobilization-and-implementation-science-km-is-practice-tools/

Missed the session?

🎥 Watch the full recording here

Featured Resources & Initiatives

Optimizing patient partner engagement and integration in research
A new paper in the Canadian Journal of Diabetes led by DAC researchers and Patient Partners reports what people living with diabetes say meaningful partnership in research really requires — and what needs to change to make it work better.
👉 Read the article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41386479/

DAC 2025 Year in Review
Explore highlights from across the Network, including Research to Action Fellowship projects, new publications, and major partnerships.
👉 Read the recap: https://diabetesaction.ca/dac2025recap/

Upcoming Event

Global End Diabetes Stigma Summit — March 28–29, 2026 (Jaipur, India)
Linxi Mytkolli is serving on the Steering Committee for the Global End Diabetes Stigma Summit, working with Patient Partners and researchers across Canada to elevate both DAC’s work and broader diabetes-related stigma efforts on the international stage. With a record number of DAC Patient Partners invited, we’re supporting this group to bring strong, patient-centred voices to the Summit.

Stay Connected

• Follow DAC on LinkedIn
• Visit our website

Thank you to everyone who took part in this session and helped push this work forward. We look forward to staying connected as these projects and resources continue to take shape.