Type 2 diabetes is a heterogeneous disorder of glucose metabolism characterized by insulin resistance, beta-cell dysfunction, and increased glucose production by the liver. According to data from the WHO and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF, 2003) there are about 150 million persons worldwide suffering from diabetes. Diabetes is rapidly increasing and expected to exceed 333 million by 2025 making diabetes fated to become one of the world most important and costly diseases. Current therapies fail to address the underlying pathophysiology of diabetes, and consequently fail to restore normal control of glucose metabolism. Work at the centre aims to further our understanding of factors controlling beta-cell mass regulation and beta cell apoptosis, with the hope of identifying drug targets that can be further developed for therapeutical intervention
see here for previous projects on the Diabetic Brain and for the role of BH3-only proteins in the pathophysiology of beta cell apoptosis