Last week, 130 students from more than 75 medical schools across the nation were at Vanderbilt to take part in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Medical Student Research Symposium, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and organized by the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center.

Following her successful heart valve surgery at Vanderbilt, Gwendolyn English and her family faced a long journey home to Florida. Her family was concerned about the trip, because English has diabetes and her blood sugar levels had been fluctuating erratically.

A component of the extracellular matrix that surrounds cells plays a role in insulin resistance and may be a good therapeutic target.

The Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) has awarded Vanderbilt’s William Russell, M.D., professor of Pediatrics and director of the division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, its highest honor — the Living and Giving Award for support of people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Immune cells that recognize self antigens (e.g. insulin), but are functionally silent, can trigger autoimmune diseases such as diabetes.

Diabetes has a big impact on the brain.

Adult cells in the pancreas can return to a less mature state – and then become a different cell type, like the beta cells that secrete insulin.