Voices & Insights from Understanding and Preventing Hypoglycemia in Diabetes 2024

Helmsley’s Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program hosted a one-day session on the occasion of the 60th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. This scientific meeting explored the latest research into alpha and delta cell dysfunction leading to hypoglycemia, and efforts to therapeutically restore the body’s ability to reverse it.

Welcome and keynote introduction

This session focused on welcoming attendees to the symposium by Dr. Ben Williams, T1D Program Officer, who also introduced keynote speaker, Dr. Al Powers.

Session 1: Genetic and gene expression studies that aim to understand the cause of glucagon secretion defects in diabetes

This session is chaired by Dr. Gina Yosten, featuring talks from Dr. Lori Sussel (“Alphabet(a) soup: Unraveling cell fate decisions in the islet”) and Dr. Joan Camuñas-Soler (“Cell Dysfunction in diabetes: insights from single-cell studies”).

Session 2: Short talks from submitted abstracts

This session is chaired by Dr. Jason Winnick, featuring talks from Dr. Malin Fex (“Loss of the melatonin receptor type 1 (Mt1) results in dysregulated α-cell function and metabolism”), Dr. Sebastian Barg (“Resistance to para- and autocrine inhibition causes hypersecretion of somatostatin in single δ-cells of human diabetic donors”), and Dr. Rui Gao (“Disruption of electrical coupling between β- and δ-cells results in impaired glucagon response to hypoglycemia in type 1 diabetes”).

Session 3: Understanding and restoring alpha cell function in T1D and T2D: Intrinsic, paracrine, and in vivo consequences in humans

This session is chaired by Dr. Shareen Forbes, featuring talks from Dr. Dale Morrison (“Glucoregulatory impact of whey protein ingestion in adults with type 1 diabetes”), Dr. Quan Zhang (“Hypoglycemia sensitises negative feedback control of glucagon secretion underlies defective glucagon response in recurrent hypoglycemia”), and Dr. Michael Rickels (“Understanding and restoring alpha cell function in type 1 diabetes”).

Session 4: Clinical progress and regulatory perspectives regarding pharmacological strategies to prevent hypoglycemia

This session is chaired by Dr. Marjana Marinac (“Outcomes beyond A1c and the patient perspective”), featuring additional talks from Ms. Karen Hauda (“Impact of health authority regulations on clinical development”), JD, MS, and Dr. Asger Lund (“Clinical trial designs to identify hypoglycemic prevention candidates – considerations and challenges”) and Dr. Richard Liggins (“ZT-01, a somatostatin receptor 2 antagonist targets the a cell to restore glucagon counterregulation and prevent hypoglycemia: a Phase 1 and 2 clinical update”).