JDRF Canada awards $466,450 (USD) to Dr. Ahmad Haidar and his team at McGill University to improve the artificial pancreas system
JDRF and McGill University are pleased to announce research occurring to improve a platform designed to aid in glucose control for those living with type 1 diabetes. The artificial pancreas platform is a system of devices that closely mimics the glucose regulating function of a healthy pancreas. Dr. Ahmad Haidar was awarded $466,450 (USD) to study the effect of co-administering insulin with pramlintide (a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar) and its effect on improving the glycemic performance relative to the insulin-alone artificial pancreas.
Dr. Haidar’s trial will assess the viability of the drug pramlintide used in the artificial pancreas platform to improve glucose control and better mimic the natural functionality of the pancreas. His team will assess a novel approach that delivers pramlintide during fasting (between meals) as well as after meals.
“We anticipate that the simultaneous infusion of pramlintide will help to improve glucose control, compared to other models of the artificial pancreas,” said Dr. Haidar, principal investigator and Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University.
“The artificial pancreas system is one of the most exciting and promising advancements that we’ve seen in the last few years,” said Dave Prowten, president and CEO, JDRF Canada. “Dr. Haidar and his collaborators have worked for years to perfect the system and are now getting closer than ever to making it happen.”
October 7 , 2016