Diabetic Foot Care and Prevention of Lower Limb Amputations

Diabetic Foot Care and Prevention of Lower Limb Amputations

What We Do

Prevent amputation in individuals with diabetes-related foot ulcers (DFUs) by establishing multi-disciplinary acute care pathways, based on Canadian data that highlights the high costs of DFU care compared to other diabetes-related admissions, and involving various healthcare professionals to improve outcomes and reduce costs.
Investigate and evaluate using technology-enabled, multi-disciplinary wound care as part of our comprehensive treatment plan for those with DFU.
Partner with community-based care providers to develop programs with our Patient Partners that provide accessible opportunities for screening, prevention, and care to individuals at risk of developing DFUs.

Get Involved

You will participate in discussions approximately once a month pertaining to research projects and strategic goals of the Network. You can also get involved in a research team! Researchers need your feedback to make sure research projects are relevant for people living with diabetes.

Become a Patient Partner

Our Team

Charles de Mestral

Thomas Lawrence Forbes

MD, FRCSC, FACS, DFSVS

Christine Murphy

RN, BSc(Hons) Tissue Viability, MClSc(WH), PhD, WOCC(C)

New research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on amputation prevention in Ontario

This month, Dr. Charles de Mestral and his team have a new paper in the JAMA Network Open journal. The paper, A Population-Based Analysis of Diabetes-Related Care Measures, Foot Complications, and Amputation During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ontario, Canada, looks at the care of 1.4 million Ontarians living with diabetes during the pandemic versus before. […]

Dr Charles De Mestral Receives an Ontario Early Career Researcher Award

Congratulations to Dr Charles de Mestral for being awarded an Ontario Early Researcher Award (ERA) for his proposal entitled: Regional Foot Core and Amputation Prevention Pathways For All Ontarians. Dr. de Mestral is a Surgeon-scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital & Unity Health Toronto and an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto. The […]

The Economic Burden of Inpatient Treatment of Foot Ulcers in People with Diabetes is Unacceptable

By Krista Lamb The cost of treating foot ulcers in people with diabetes continues to be incredibly high. A new study from Diabetes Action Canada researchers Drs. Mohammed Al-Omran and Charles de Mestral, shows that the cost for treatment of diabetic foot ulcers in Toronto hospitals is more than double that of the top five […]

Amputation Prevention

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.