Diabetes drug-therapy innovator wins international prize

The American Diabetes Association named University of Toronto Professor Daniel Drucker as recipient of the 2014 Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement Award.

Drucker is only the second Canadian recipient of the award, which is named after the late U of T professor and co-discoverer of insulin, Sir Frederick Banting.

The other recipient was U of T’s Dr. Mladen Vranic, an internationally-respected researcher who was the last post-doctoral fellow of Dr. Charles Best, another co-discoverer of insulin.

“Daniel Drucker has made huge contributions to diabetes research. As a clinician-scientist, he has a sharp focus on translating discoveries into new therapies that help those battling diabetes,” said Professor Gary Lewis, director of the Banting and Best Diabetes Centre at the University of Toronto.

Drucker is known as one of the fathers of incretin therapy, which is used to treat Type-2 diabetes. Incretins are a class of gut-derived hormones that regulate the production of insulin and food ingestion. (Read more on the specifics of Drucker's research)

Science from the Drucker lab supported development of two new classes of therapies now used to treat diabetes, GLP-1 receptor agonists and DPP4 inhibitors. 

Drucker’s focus on developing drug therapies has been aided by relationships with many pharmaceutical companies — notably Merck, which gave a $1.5-million grant to the Lunenfeld Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mt. Sinai Hospital to fund training for graduate students and post-doctoral positions in Drucker’s lab, and Novo Nordisk, which donated $3-million to establish a chair in incretin biology at the Banting and Best Diabetes Centre.

“This is a great example of the collaborative relationships that can exist between universities and the pharmaceutical industry. Long after I’m gone, there will continue to be people at U of T who will be conducting research in incretin biology and diabetes,” said Drucker.

Drucker is an Endocrinologist and Professor of Medicine in U of T’s Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine. He is also a Senior Investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital and is the former Director of U of T’s Banting and Best Diabetes Centre. He holds the Canada Research Chair in Regulatory Peptides and the inaugural Banting & Best Diabetes Centre-Novo Nordisk Chair in Incretin Biology.

“Certainly we all aim to do important work that has international impact. Receiving this award is external validation and reflects not just my hard work, but really honours the work of my lab and the dedication of our trainees and research associates who have contribute to our success,” said Drucker.

“Daniel Drucker’s translation work transforms scientific discoveries into new therapies for patients. His research into a family of hormones produced in the pancreas, gastrointestinal tract and brain has led to treatments not just for diabetes, but also obesity and intestinal disorders. He is an outstanding researcher and a wonderful example of the world-class faculty that call U of T Medicine home,” said Catharine Whiteside, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.

“Toronto is a great place to conduct diabetes research,” said Drucker. “Every morning we wake up and think, ‘Banting and Best discovered insulin in 1922 – what am I going to do today?’”

Drucker will be recognized with this honor at the American Diabetes Association’s 74th Scientific Sessions, taking place June 13-17, 2014, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.