Diabetes Research Group
The Diabetes Research Group led by Professor F.S. Wong and Professor C.M. Dayan comprises 20 research staff including 3 professors, 6 post-doctoral scientists, 5 clinical research fellows, two PhD students, two trial coordinators and a research technician.
The group (Profs Wong and Dayan) is among the leading research groups studying the immunology and immunotherapy of type 1 diabetes in the UK and has external grant income in excess of 2m euros including funding from the UK Medical Research Council, the EU (FP7), the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Diabetes UK and the Diabetes Research and Wellness foundation. Group members are internationally recognised for fundamental research on basic immunology and pathogenesis in animal models of type 1 diabetes and early phase clinical trials in humans.
Our group (Prof. J. Gregory) also has a longstanding interest in research to optimise clinical services for children with diabetes which started with clinical trials of motivational interviewing. More recently completed studies (mostly NIHR or Diabetes UK-funded) have developed and evaluated the effectiveness of communication skills training for paediatric diabetes teams (The DEPICTED Study) and models of transitional care (TCADS Study). Ongoing studies are comparing the effectiveness of treatment of diabetes from diagnosis at home or in hospital (DECIDE Study), evaluating how children use information to make health-care choices (EPIC Study) and comparing pump therapy with multiple daily injection regimens (SCIPI Study). These studies have involved collaborations with members of the Institute of Primary Health Care, SEWTU & The School of Nursing & Midwifery Services at Cardiff University, Dept of Health Economics at Glamorgan University and colleagues in Liverpool. Work is also underway in collaboration with the Brecon Group (Dr J. Harvey, Prof. J Gregory) to integrate their register of newly diagnosed cases since 1994 (which is >95% complete) with other electronic databases in collaboration with colleagues in The Health Informatics Research Unit (HIRU) Swansea University. This allows us to evaluate various effects of diabetes in children in Wales and has already allowed an analysis of changing trends in the epidemiology of diabetes in Wales over the last 17 years.
Thus, we aim to build a comprehensive programme that will encompass research in diabetes in both children and adults that will allow us not only to develop new treatments but also contribute substantially to improvement in the quality of life of patients with diabetes.
