Trailblazers in Diabetes: Celebrating Women Who Changed the Game
When you think of diabetes pioneers, names like Frederick Banting, Charles Best, and Elliot Joslin come to mind. But what about the women who changed diabetes care?
Often, their names go unheard of, which is a shame because for years, they’ve been making groundbreaking discoveries in diabetes science. Since March is Women’s History Month, we’re celebrating ten female leaders in diabetes research.
Starting from the historical women in diabetes treatment to the leading ladies of today, we’re letting their work shine bright in this post. Without them, we wouldn’t know some of the stuff we know about this condition now.
1. Dr. Priscilla White
Dr. Priscilla White is well known for her work in type one diabetes, diabetes complications during pregnancy, and is one of the founding members of the Joslin Diabetes Center. Even though she was unable to attend Harvard Medical School due to societal restrictions, she still did trailblazing work while attending Worcester Memorial Hospital.
While there, one of the leading figures in diabetes research, Elliot Joslin, asked her to help him do some insulin testing on children with the condition. After making strides in children's diabetes research, she started putting more focus on diabetes in pregnancy.
Dr. White felt her most meaningful work was her contributions in this area. She was able to raise the fetal success rate of children born from mothers with diabetes from 54% to 90%.
2. Dr. Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin
Dr. Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin's love and passion for chemistry and science came from her mother, who was a proficient botanist. Thanks to her mother’s influence, Dr. Hodgkin became the third woman to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Her contributions to diabetes science come from her work in X-ray crystallography, which led to insulin discovery. By analyzing the diffraction patterns of X-rays passed through crystallized insulin, she revealed the precise arrangement of its atoms.
Dr. Hodgkin’s work made advancements in insulin production and improved the lives of those living with diabetes. As one of the significant women who changed diabetes care, her ability to visualize this intricate molecule provided a fundamental leap in biochemical understanding. It drove further research into protein structures and their roles in human health.
Thanks to Dr. Hodgkin's contributions, we're now able to have diabetes technology such as an insulin pump. Her work laid the groundwork for understanding insulin's structure, enabling precise, automated delivery that improves comfort and quality of life for people with diabetes.
3. Dr. Helen M. Free
Another chemist who made a stride in diabetes technology advancement, Dr. Free developed at-home diabetes tests. She worked beside her husband, Alfred Free, to develop urine dipstick tests.
At first, people were skeptical of at-home medical testing, believing it would provide false results and that testing should only be done in laboratories. She also faced backlash due to the gender bias of the era.
But thanks to her work, it led to the foundation for developing the modern glucose test strips we have now. Dr. Free's dedication to accessible testing revolutionized diabetes care. Her pioneering work allows us to monitor our glucose levels with ease, empowering us to take control of our health.
4. Dr. Lois Jovanovic
Another diabetes pioneer in managing the condition during pregnancy was Dr. Lois Jovanovic. She was an endocrinologist who introduced strict glucose control to help reduce birth complications. For 27 years, Dr. Jovanovic led the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute, where she taught and educated diabetic pregnant women on how to care for themselves to improve their health.
Thanks to her leadership, the institute became well known for their protocols in diabetes advocacy. Also, her work has set the current guidelines and protocols of the International Diabetes Federation that physicians, nurses, educators, and dietitians must follow.
5. Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, the first woman to teach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was a strong advocate for female scientists. Proving that women can make changes in a male-dominated industry, she developed a technique that allows researchers to measure biological substances in the blood.
Before the development of radioimmunoassay (RIA), researchers were unable to know how high or low diabetics' insulin levels were. Not only did she create this measurement tool, but another insulin discovery she made was that diabetics had plenty of insulin.
The problem was that their bodies weren’t using it correctly. This discovery changed how doctors thought about diabetes and helped them develop better treatments.
6. Dr. Barbara E. Corkey
David Barker created the thrifty phenotype hypothesis, which proposes that a baby’s environment during pregnancy and early infancy influences their risk of developing chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, later in life.
Barker's thrifty theory was that if a baby was given an abundance of food while in the womb, then their “thrifty” metabolism becomes a disadvantage. Their bodies will become primed to store fat, leading to an increased risk of obesity and insulin resistance.
Dr. Barbara E. Corkey’s research goes beyond the idea of nutrition in the womb and focuses on how early-life experiences can lead to long-term changes in cellular metabolism. Her exploration challenges conventional thinking, suggesting that excess insulin can contribute to obesity and diabetes.
Through her investigations, researchers have found how subtle changes in cellular metabolism can lead to chronic diseases and the development of new therapies and preventive measures to combat them. As one of the female leaders in diabetes research, her work has been vital to our understanding of metabolic disorders.
7. Dr. Susan Bonner-Weir
Dr. Susan Bonner-Weir's contributions to diabetes research are in the area of pancreatic beta-cell biology and transplantation. Her work focuses on understanding how beta cells are destroyed in type 1 diabetes and how to regenerate and protect them.
She developed techniques to isolate, culture, and transplant islets of Langerhans, the clusters of cells in the pancreas that contain the beta cells. Creating new methods to improve islet transplantation aims to provide a possible cure for type 1 diabetes. Her work also explores how to stimulate the body’s own ability to create new insulin-producing cells.
8. Melanie Davies
A current leading figure in the field of diabetes research, especially type 2 diabetes, is Professor Melanie Davies. She has become one of the leading modern women who changed diabetes care by focusing on lifestyle interventions and pharmacological treatments that have set current guidelines for doctors to use.
She has led and contributed to several large-scale clinical trials, including the landmark Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) and its long-term follow-up, the DPP Outcomes Study. Also, Professor Davies has been instrumental in evaluating the efficacy and safety of new diabetes medications.
9. Dr. Kathleen Dungan
Dr. Kathleen Dungan is an endocrinologist and researcher whose work has helped advance our understanding and management of diabetes. Her research focuses on the impact of hyperglycemia in hospitalized patients and explores strategies for glucose control to improve patient outcomes.
She has also conducted several studies that investigate the efficacy of various insulin regimens and protocols for managing blood sugar in acute care situations. Lastly, Dr. Dungan has contributed to the development of evidence-based guidelines for inpatient diabetes management to help reduce hyperglycemia complications in hospitalized patients.
10. Ruth McPherson
Dr. Ruth McPherson is a cardiologist and geneticist whose research has contributed to the understanding of the genetic factors influencing diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Her work focuses on identifying genes that predispose individuals with metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia. Thanks to Dr. McPherson’s research, scientists have a better understanding of the genetic basis of diabetes and can develop approaches to reduce its contribution to cardiovascular disease.
Honorable Mention: Debby Montgomery, a Leader in Diabetes Advocacy
After seeing the struggles her father experienced with diabetes, Debby has dedicated her life to diabetes research by running a company that focuses on addressing diabetic neuropathy.
BenfoComplete centers on the use of benfotiamine due to its potential to alleviate nerve damage associated with diabetes. Montgomery’s work reflects a commitment to providing individuals with diabetes access to nutritional support that may improve their quality of life.
She shares weekly advice on diabetes management and prevention on the blog and offers convenient auto-shipping of Benfotiamine to ensure long-term support for nerve health.
Let’s celebrate all of these leading women who changed diabetes care. Without them, we would not have the knowledge, technology, and treatment in diabetes management that we have now.