Two people in a lab

Our cross-faculty multidisciplinary type 1 diabetes clinical research programme is developing technologies to improve the quality of life and reduce the burden of self-management."

Professor Nick Oliver

Head of Section

The section of metabolic medicine undertakes clinical translational research focussing on type 1 diabetes. We co-ordinate the ADDRESS2 study of new-onset type 1 diabetes which is now one of the largest cohorts of adults studied from diagnosis. The ADDRESS2 study has led to new insights into the pathophysiology of type 1 diabetes and work to establish the impact of viruses in the development of type 1 diabetes is ongoing. Active areas of investigation include how both new and existing technologies are applied to type 1 diabetes, with a focus on interventions to prevent hypoglycaemia, and the development and assessment of artificial intelligence strategies to support people living with type 1 diabetes.

We work closely with biomedical engineers to develop new technologies and solutions to support type 1 diabetes self-management including novel glucose sensing modalities, decision support using smartphones, and integration of wearable technologies.

Other research areas include diabetes diagnostic stratification, gestational diabetes and type 2 diabetes prevention, and work to establish key differences between diabetes sub-types across different ethnicities.

Head of Section of Metabolic Medicine

Key studies, research groups and collaborations

  • ADDRESS-2 study - learning about the characteristics of people newly diagnosed with type 1 with diabetes in the UK and supporting other research into type 1 diabetes.
  • ABC4D study - Advanced Bolus Calculator for Diabetes.
  • AIR-CGM - Assessment of the Impact of Real-Time Continuous Glucose Monitoring on People Presenting With Severe Hypoglycaemia.
  • ALPHA - Assessment of the Accuracy of Continuous Glucose Sensors in People With Diabetes Undergoing Haemodialysis.
  • ARISES – Adaptive, Real-time, Intelligent System to Enhance Self-care of chronic disease.
  • BiAP study Clinical Evaluation of an Artificial Pancreas in people with Type 1 Diabetes. Publication found here.
  • I HART CGM study - Comparison of Continuous Glucose Monitoring vs. Flash Glucose Monitoring in Type 1 diabetes. Publication found here.
  • PACE – The impact of predictive hypoglycaemia alert function in physical activity for people with T1DM.
  • PEPPER study - Personalised Decision Support system for diabetes management in Type 1 Diabetes.
  • MY DIABETES study - Characterising Young-Onset Diabetes in two UK ethnic groups, specifically identifying potential genetic causes to their diabetes known as Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY).
  • WynnMet - The Wynn Database: Metabolic Risk Factors and Mortality
Collaborations 
Prof Nick Oliver

Section leadership

Head of Metabolic Medicine 

Nick Oliver is the Wynn Professor of human metabolism and is a consultant in diabetes and endocrinology at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. His clinical and academic interest is type 1 diabetes and the application of technology

Further information on Professor Nick Oliver

Research group leads: