Advances in research on type 1 diabetes shared at a recent national scientific conference has endocrinologists feeling optimistic. 

Dawn Belt Davis, MD, PhD, associate professor, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, spoke about some of the developments in type 1 diabetes presented at the Endocrine Society Annual Meeting in a video highlight of the meeting. 

Particularly interesting, said Dr. Davis, are discussions of the real-world use of an artificial pancreas system. Presentations focused on both pros and cons of newly approved technology. For example, clinicians caring for athletes with type 1 diabetes who are using a new artificial pancreas system report that the algorithms are not optimized in the setting of intense exercise. "That was an example of real-world information we can get at this meeting," said Dr. Davis.

Survival strategies for islet transplantation was also a hot topic. "A lot of people are looking at different ways to help transplanted islets survive better, including different encapsulation strategies to protect those transplanted islets from the immune system," said Dr. Davis.

Improving rates of hypoglycemia in patients managed in the outpatient setting was also a key area. 

"Overall it's been a great meeting - lots of great basic science, clinical research, and translational research," said Dr. Davis.  

ENDO 2018 occurred on March 16-20 in Chicago, Illinois. 

Resources:

• "VIDEO: ‘Big year,’ breakthroughs seen in type 1 diabetes," Healio EndocrineToday, March 20, 2018

Photo caption: Dr. Dawn Belt Davis in her research laboratory. Photo credit: Clint Thayer/Department of Medicine