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To mark World Diabetes Day, patients and members of the public were invited to learn more at an open day about the condition at the Churchill Hospital.

Held on 18 November within the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism (OCDEM), the event 'Eyes on Diabetes: Research and Innovation' showcased the ground-breaking research that it is hoped will change patient care in the future. With an array of interactive stalls, visitors had the chance to meet the clinicians and scientists running the trials of new treatments and see how the results of research are adopted into clinical practice.

The Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences’ Islet Transplant Research Group played a major part in the event by hosting a stall which featured organ donation, islet isolation and transplantation. The team also offered tours of the Human Islet Isolation Facility.

This state-of-the-art facility provides human islets, not only for clinical transplantation, but also for a broad range of research projects requiring human islets. The Islet Transplant Research Group are investigating ways to optimise human pancreatic islet isolation and transplantation, with the overall goal of achieving insulin independence in patients with diabetes.

Research open day held to celebrate World Diabetes DayDr Sarah Cross, who is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in the Islet Transplant Research Group and Deputy Manager of the DRWF Human Islet Isolation Facility, said: ‘There was a great amount of interest in both the clinical programme and the research that we do. Our team were kept very busy throughout, with the lab tours proving extremely popular. The event was a resounding success!’

Find out more about the research open day:

Read about the event in the Oxford Mail.