3 March 2008

Charities boost to diabetes research at University of Dundee

Diabetes research within the University of Dundee Medical School has been boosted by a joint £120,000 donation from the Alexander Moncur Trust and Diabetes UK to buy a new state-of-the-art microscope.

The trust and the charity each donated £60,000 towards the purchase of the confocal microscope, which allows researchers to examine how insulin works inside our cells.

"This is a real boost to our research here in the Medical School and once again we have to be very thankful for the support shown by the Alexander Moncur Trust and Diabetes UK," said Dr Calum Sutherland, Diabetes UK Senior Fellow at the Medical School and co-Director of the Dundee Diabetes Research Centre.

"An important part of our research is to understand how insulin works at the molecular level. If we can do this we will be able to work out specifically what has gone wrong in people with diabetes. This understanding is vital to design the most effective treatment for people with the disease."

"The confocal microscope allows us to look inside cells before, during and after exposure to insulin. If we compare a cell from a healthy person with one from a subject with diabetes we can identify the differences."

The donations were made through the University’s £3million Diabetes Research Campaign, which is aiming to raise £3million towards research and patient care facilities across Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross, adding to the world-class diabetes research programmes which are already well-established through the University and NHS Tayside. The campaign has already raised £1.7m towards the overall target.

The new microscope replaces an older machine and is much faster, thereby allowing more experiments to be performed. It also contains specific adaptations for the work being done by the Dundee researchers.

The confocal microscope uses a scanning laser to build 3D images of cells.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The University of Dundee has been hailed as 'a world-leading centre' for research into diabetes by Douglas Smallwood, chief executive of Diabetes UK. The charity is a major funder of diabetes research at the University, directing over 90% of its Scottish research funding to Dundee.

The Dundee Diabetes Research Centre is a joint venture between the Faculty of Life Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing, currently hosting over 25 research teams that have a shared interest in diabetes research, ranging from the study of single molecules to complex clinical studies.

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