Researchers

There is no FDA-approved treatment for diabetic neuropathy, a condition that afflicts half of the 27 million North Americans who suffer from diabetes. The neurodegeneration seen in diabetes leads to sensory fiber depletion and loss of protective sensation – a primary trigger of the diabetic foot and lower limb amputation. With financial support from several key stakeholders in the field of diabetes, a small start-up company, WinSanTor Inc, was established in 2012 and is developing a proprietary first-in-class therapy to prevent and reverse nerve damage.

Dr. Thomas L. Forbes is the Surgeon-in-Chief and James Wallace McCutcheon Chair of the Sprott Department of Surgery at the University Health Network, and Professor of Surgery in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Vascular Surgery, and a Section Editor of Rutherford’s Textbook of Vascular Surgery. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers, editorials and book chapters and given over 100 invited lectures or guest professorships.

Dr. Mike Fralick’s main research interest is in understanding the safety and effectiveness of novel medications for adults living with diabetes and cardiovascular disease, including sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) analogues. Mike splits his research time between GEMINI and LKS-CHART, integrating pharmacoepidemiology with Machine Learning in his work.

Dr. Rebecca Ganann is a researcher with the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging. Her research program is focused on integrated health and social service delivery innovations to promote physical and mental health, and mobility among community-dwelling older adults. Her previous research has explored mental health and health services accessibility for immigrant women.

Dr. Hannah Geddie is a Pediatric Endocrinologist at McMaster Children’s Hospital. She completed her medical degree, residency training, and fellowship training in Pediatric Endocrinology at McMaster University. She has a Masters degree in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She has a strong interest in the intersection between public health and health promotion and Type 1 Diabetes. Her current research pertains to health policy related to Type 1 Diabetes in school, and the use of interactive tools to support patients and families in managing Type 1 Diabetes.

Dr. Michelle Greiver’s work centres on using Canada’s increasingly large amounts of electronic health data to improve the health and lives of Canadians; diabetes is now a critical health issue for more Canadians than ever.  She oversees the Electronic Medical Record data system as well as clinical research activities for UTOPIAN, the University of Toronto Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN), which includes over 1,400 family physicians and is the largest PBRN in Canada. She is the lead for the Primary care Ontario Practice Learning and Research Network (POPLAR), combining EMR data from all seven Networks across Ontario’s six Departments / Sections of Family Medicine and the Alliance for Healthier Communities (Ontario’s Community Health Centres).

Dr. Eva Grunfeld is a physician-scientist and Director of the Knowledge Translation Research Network, Health Services Research Program, at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. At the University of Toronto, Dr. Grunfeld is a professor at the Department of Family and Community Medicine; professor at the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation; and professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She also holds the position of Chair of the Institute for Cancer Research, Institute Advisory Board, at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr. Grunfeld is a leader in cancer health services and outcomes research

Dr. Neeru Gupta is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, and the Diabetes Canada–New Brunswick Health Research Foundation Chair in Diabetes Research at the University of New Brunswick. Her research focuses on the use of large-scale survey and administrative datasets to support evidence-informed health and social policy to positively impact diabetes outcomes across the lifespan amenable to healthcare improvement, notably as leading to healthy populations, sustainable health system investments, and better patient and provider experiences.

Dr. Ahmad Haidar is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University. Dr. Haidar leads an interdisciplinary research program that applies feedback control theory and mathematical modelling to diabetes physiological and clinical problems. Since 2011, Dr Haidar’s research focus has been to develop and clinically test novel artificial pancreas systems, as well as using Bayesian modeling and isotope tracers to study the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of insulin, glucagon, and pramlintide. Dr Haidar also leads a graduate program in translational biomedical engineering at McGill University that trains engineers for careers in the biomedical industry.

The focus of Dr. Ilana Halperin’s research is on quality improvement related to chronic disease management. She has a special clinical and research interest in diabetes in pregnancy and is currently collaborating on a number of multi-site projects for this population looking at timing of post-partum screening for diabetes and behavioural interventions to decrease diabetes risk post-partum. She is also leading the development and implementation of a balanced diabetes scorecard to evaluate and improve the quality of specialty ambulatory care for patients with diabetes.