Dr. Danielle Defries, © UWinnipeg
UWinnipeg was granted a total of $62,000 from the Manitoba Medical Service Foundation for two research projects. They will be recognized with their fellow award recipients at a reception at Manitoba Blue Cross today, Wednesday, April 13.
Dr. Danielle Defries (kinesiology and applied health) has received $32,000 for her research in Gestational diabetes (GDM). Defries is researching GDM, a form of diabetes diagnosed during pregnancy that causes a woman’s blood sugar to rise above normal levels. GDM has an impact on the future health of both mother and child, as it increases a woman’s risk of type 2 diabetes, and also increases the chances that her child will develop obesity and type 2 diabetes later in life.
“I’ve always been interested in understanding the root causes of metabolic diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes, especially since I have a lot of family members living with type 2 diabetes,” shared Defries. “Even though there are many drugs available to manage type 2 diabetes, cases continue to rise, and we see patients developing type 2 diabetes at younger and younger ages. That to me says there is more work to be done to understand they whys and hows of diabetes works.”
Read more on this project at Understanding Gestational diabetes.
Dr. Shailly Varma Shrivastav, © UWinnipeg
Dr. Shailly Varma Shrivastav (biology) has received funding $30,000 for her research in cancer. Although as a biochemist, she was first interested in studying the electrochemistry of enzymes for use in biosensors. However, her path changed course when her young cousin of 36 years, was diagnosed with oral cancer, which was a shock to her and her family.
“In the process of trying to understand the treatments as student of science I was intrigued to find that there are not many effective treatments for advanced oral cancer. This thought lingered and when I got an opportunity I decided to pursue cancer research.”
Read more on this project at Defeating cancer through research.
