Synopsis:

One hundred years ago the first insulin injection was given at RCH. Overnight, type 1 diabetes went from a fatal to a ‘manageable’ condition. Since that time, diabetes management has developed and evolved to a point where in the near future it is hoped that exogenous insulin will represent a treatment failure rather than a therapeutic mainstay. This Grand Round will trace the history of insulin therapy and diabetes management at RCH, and discuss the likely direction of new therapies in the upcoming decades.

Speaker:

Professor Fergus Cameron is the Director of the Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes and Director of the Healthy Bones Unit at The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne. He is widely published in medical and lay literature regarding endocrine and diabetes management. Professor Cameron’s particular interests are the impacts of type 1 diabetes on the development of the central nervous system and psychosocial aspects of care. His focus is to investigate better management of type 1 diabetes by testing new technology, novel drugs to reduce cardiovascular and renal disease associated with type 1 diabetes and exploring the impact of hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia on brain function. He is President- Elect for the International Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Diabetes, has given many invited plenary lectures and is a member of the Hvidoere Study Group on Childhood Diabetes.