ADA Symposium—Major Advances and Discoveries in Diabetes—The Year in Review
Monday, June 26, at 8:00 a.m. PT
Ballroom 20A-C
San Diego Convention Center
(Livestream Available)
Presentation: Translational
Anath Shalev, MD
Professor/Director,
University of Alabama at Birmingham
What is your presentation about?
I will discuss opportunities and challenges of translational research in diabetes and provide some recent examples of successful advances made pertaining especially to the treatment of type 1 diabetes.
What makes this topic important in 2023?
It has now been over 100 years since the discovery of insulin, insulin costs are at an all-time high in the US, and there are still no alternatives and no oral medications approved for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. However, recently there has been exciting translational progress in this regard.
How did you become involved with this area of diabetes research or care?
While major advances have been made in the treatment of diabetes including devices, insulin formulations and multiple type 2 diabetes medications, none of these approaches are able to fully mimic functional, endogenous beta cell function. Based on this realization, I wanted to find ways to overcome this issue without the need for pancreas/islet transplantation and immunosuppression.
How do you think your presentation will impact diabetes research or care?
Developing treatment options that promote the patient’s own functional beta cell mass and healthy islet function address a major unmet need and as such are expected to ultimately change the landscape of diabetes therapy. Since some of the approaches include repurposed drugs, they provide clinicians with off label options that can be used already now on a need basis. Obviously, these efforts also are opening up exciting new research areas.
What are you most looking forward to at the 83rd Scientific Sessions?
After several missed meetings due to COVID, I am looking forward to connecting again in person with national and international colleagues.