Our Centre maintains its interest in diabetes and liver disease with ongoing phenotypic studies led by Professor Stephen Twigg.

Our work in youth type 2 diabetes and obesity in people living with type 1 diabetes continues with Dr Xi May Zhen, Professor Jencia Wong and Professor Stephen Twigg to investigate pharmacotherapy and nutritional interventions in both.   

The Data Driven Diabetes Research group assembled by Professors Twigg and Wong and Dr Maria Constantino aims to combine information technology and team-based care to explore phenotypic variability, stratify risk, and to discover new knowledge to inform decision-making in the context of personalised medicine in diabetes.   

Professor Stephen Twigg co-leads the newly formed Sydney Health Partners, Diabetes and Obesity Clinical Academic Group which will enhance collaborations within and beyond the Sydney Local Health District. In addition, Professor Wong's collaborations continue, with the Diabetes Centre involved in a number of Food is Medicine trials with investigators from The George Institute for Global Health. 

The Diabetes Centre High Risk Foot Service, has continued research led by Vanessa Nube and Professor Twigg, addressing the optimal frequency of foot ulcer debridement. Dr Joel Lasschuit is investigating treatments for Charcot's foot healing. 

Dr Ted Wu is leading novel research using telehealth and Flash glucose monitoring in the discharge management of patients with diabetes treated with insulin (FlashRADS study). Dr Angela Lee, Connie Luo and Marg McGill lead studies involving the use of technology in Type 1 diabetes. 

Associate Professor Glynis Ross, Dr Arianne Sweeting and Professor Jencia Wong continue collaborative research into aspects of Antenatal Diabetes with a particular focus on Early Gestational Diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in pregnancy. New trials will explore the efficacy of nutritional interventions gestational diabetes.

Our staff continue in leadership roles nationally and it is notable that Dr Sweeting continues as President of the Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society (ADIPS). The Diabetes Centre has been recognized by the Australian National Diabetes Association as a Centre of Excellence with a special citation for the Centre's research culture. We have a continued strong presence in invited and general abstract presentations nationally and internationally. 

Our Service's recent research has focused on the following topics: 

• The impact of the COVID pandemic on lifestyle habits in the clinical population 
• Different treatment options for individuals with severe obesity (BMI > 50 and comorbidities), including the use of severely restricted  energy diets, pharmacotherapy and bariatric surgery
• The treatment and progression of Prader Willi Syndrome (PWS)
• Eating pathology in those with severe obesity including food addiction and binge eating.

Our Centre continues translational research in key aspects of general endocrinology, such as primary hyperaldosteronism steroid mass spectrometer profiling, Graves' disease TSH receptor antibody bioassay development, and thyroid cancer molecular profiling and outcomes.

Professor Luigi Fontana's research interests lie in preventive medicine and in the mechanisms mediating healthy longevity in humans. They focus primarily on the role of nutrition and physical exercise in retarding the aging process and in preventing the accumulation of metabolic and molecular damage leading to multiple age-associated chronic disease. 

In particular, he is applying whole-body physiological and tissue-specific molecular approaches to investigate the effects of several clinical interventions, including calorie restriction, intermittent fasting, protein or amino acid restriction, phytochemical-rich plant-based diets, physical exercise, and CR mimetics, on outcomes such as cardiovascular function, glucose metabolism, inflammation, neuroendocrine and immune function, gut microbiome health and cancer biology. He is also interested in the endocrine role of abdominal fat storage and associated metabolic alterations as mediators of insulin resistance and accelerated aging.

Our Laboratory focuses on research into diabetes and its complications, the endocrine conditions of thyroid cancer, Graves' Disease, and prostate cancer. These studies utilise strong links across clinical and academic spheres to integrate 'bench-to-bedside' translational research.

Our researchers continued their intervention studies on diabetes and fatty liver disease (NASH fibrosis) using an extended new mouse NASH fibrosis model to investigate pathological changes through either introducing gene knockout or undertaking exercise. In addition, the research studies of exercises and fatty liver disease have been conducted in humans with international collaboration in prediabetes and diabetes (PACE-G). The delayed ulcer healing has been studied in both humans and a diabetic preclinical model to investigate the underlying mechanisms.

The study on how chronic inflammation especially white blood cells impact on diabetes complications has been deeply explored using cutting-edge techniques.

These studies are progressing into an exciting phase where the team can determine if it's possible to optimally prevent or even reverse complications in diabetes, using molecular transgenic technology to remove specific genes, as well as lifestyle approaches such as intensive exercise.

Several interventions have also proven to be successful and can now be undertaken in human studies, including in fatty liver complications. Additionally, the blood and ulcer fluid markers are continuing to look promising for predicting foot ulcer healing outcomes in people. This is critical to expediating intensive interventions in assisting with timely mending.

Our team's research into prostate cancer, specifically examining the role of herbal and molecular interventions in vitro, has also progressed.

We are continuing to mentor the next generation of students and postdoctoral fellows.