UBC’s BC Diabetes Research Network hosted the 12th annual academic research day on November 14, 2025. Held on World Diabetes Day, Vancouver Diabetes Research Day 2025 (VDRD) attracted over 150 delegates from across the province to gather to share the latest diabetes research discoveries. VDRD was made possible through generous support from the University of British Columbia’s Grants for Catalyzing Research Clusters, the BC Children’s Hospital Canucks for Kids Fund Childhood Diabetes Laboratories and the UBC Life Sciences Institute.
VDRD invited keynote speaker Dr Kacey Prentice from the University of Toronto’s Banting & Best Diabetes Centre opened the meeting. Her work focusses on circulating factors that influence insulin secretion, and how these may contribute to beta cell dysfunction and the development of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Her presentation was followed by 16 oral presentations by senior trainees and post doctoral research fellows. A spirited poster session was hosted at the end of the day to celebrate World Diabetes Day. Judges had a challenging time selecting only one poster from each group to put forward for VDRD award. The meeting included 60 abstracts submitted by trainees from diverse research laboratories. All the presentations were outstanding with a number of projects receiving VDRD awards.
The innovative science is always the focus of the VDRD event. The variety and depth of science did not disappoint in 2025. Our academic research day would not have been possible without the dedicated organizing committee comprised of graduate students, post docs and research staff. Thank you to everyone who was involved in planning a successful research conference for the diabetes research community in BC. We hope to see everyone at VDRD 2026!
Congratulations to the following presenters for being recognized for VDRD Awards:
VDRD Oral Presentations
Roderick Sandilands
Determining the acute effects of exercise snacks on physical activity and glycemic regulation in type 2 diabetes: A randomized crossover study
Katarina Zosel
Stem cell lab simulation: gamifying science communication for elementary students and beyond
Zoe Lofft
High folic acid impacts insulin-producing beta-cell function
Liam Hall
Room temperature housing delays early diabetes onset and sedentary behaviour increases late diabetes onset in NOD mice
VDRD Poster Presentations
A1- Raymond Gao
Exploring the role of ZBTB7C in cell fate regulation during beta cell differentiation from human embryonic stem cells.
A2 Dorsa Sadeghi
Rreb1 loss in β cells protects male mice against type 2 diabetes by improving glucose tolerance
A3- Sara Asgarian
The other side of the screen: Healthcare professionals’ perspective on virtual paediatric diabetes care in British Columbia
B1 Aeron Salac
Investigating the role of SOX4 in human β-cell formation and function
B2 Carling Smith
Sex differences in key factors influencing glucose homeostasis in NOD and C57BL/6J mice
B3 Gala Araujo
Endothelial cell-cardiomyocyte crosstalk using heparanase orchestrates cardiac remodeling and dysfunction during diabetes