Diabetes Message in India

August 7th, 2012

Assistant Professor Vance Matthews.

One of WAIMR's top researchers into Type 2 Diabetes and metabolism, Assistant Professor Vance Matthews, has been invited to speak at a major international conference.

Diabetes 2012, to be held in Hyderabad, India, is expected to attract about 500 people from the global scientific and medical community.

"This is an exciting opportunity to talk about our work in Western Australia," said Assistant Professor Matthews.

"My team has identified that a protein called "LIGHT" may promote insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. Insulin resistance means that cells are less able to respond to insulin which is needed to transport sugar from blood into muscles, adipose tissue, liver and other tissues and it's a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.

In collaboration with scientists from the Centenary Institute, we've discovered that if we ablate this protein known as "LIGHT" we can improve glucose and insulin tolerance which would translate into good metabolic outcomes."

The Diabetes 2012 conference, which will focus on metabolism and obesity, will be held in September.

For more information please contact:

Carolyn Monaghan
Communications Manager
Mobile: 0448 021 932 (media enquiries only)
Office: (08) 9224 0377
Email: carolyn.monaghan@waimr.uwa.edu.au