Photo: UBC Okanagan
A UBC Okanagan professor is the Canadian leader of a team of 13 that has received an internationally competitive award of $ 1 million for diabetes research.
According to Professor Dr. Ali McManus, Professor in the School of Health and Exercise Sciences, both Canadian and British researchers have set records in advanced diabetes research.
The Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the UK Medical Research Council opened a new funding opportunity in 2019 to bring together countries’ efforts to improve the lives of people with type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes is a chronic condition in which sugar or glucose levels build up in a person’s bloodstream. It is predicted that 2.16 million new cases will occur in Canada by 2022, resulting in healthcare costs of $ 15.36 billion.
“Being physically active and exercising is critical to managing type 2 diabetes,” says McManus. “Exercise helps people with diabetes control their blood sugar and reduce other serious health risks associated with the condition.”
Even so, it has been proven that maintaining exercise is difficult for many, and more research is needed to find new ways to get people to exercise regularly. The fund is designed to support collaboration between the team working to make exercise easier for people with type 2 diabetes.
The interdisciplinary team is conducting the MOTIVATE-T2D clinical trial in Kelowna and Liverpool. In the study, participants train at home using mobile technology and provide feedback to an exercise specialist.
People with type 2 diabetes use heart rate monitors to get personalized feedback from an exercise specialist so they can start and stay with the workout done at home. The Kelowna team is looking for participants from all over Canada.
The mobile technology advisory service was set up by experts, including behavior change scientist Dr. Mary Jung, the exercise physiologist and diabetes researcher Dr. Jonathan Little, the endocrinologist and clinician Dr. Charlotte Jones as well as the public health and clinical study Dr. Joel Singer.
For the British team, Dr. Matthew Cocks are doing the same study for those living in Liverpool. Delivery and results for each country are compared.
“More than ever, we need to meet the needs of people with type 2 diabetes by helping them manage their condition from home. We are very excited that this evidence-based technology enables us to offer high quality care from the comfort of your own home. “
To learn more about the study or to become a participant, contact the MOTIVATE-T2D team at [email protected] or visit the study website at: motivatet2d.com
