A Sheffield diabetes researcher, Gordon Sloan, has been awarded the prestigious Association of British Clinical Diabetologists (ABCD) Rising Star Award in recognition of his contribution to innovative and impactful diabetes research.
The award celebrates emerging leaders who are shaping the future of diabetes care. This year’s award recognises important work in the field of diabetic neuropathy, a complication of diabetes affecting around half of people with diabetes.
This common condition can lead to pain, tingling, numbness and loss of sensation, starting in the feet.
The focus of Gordon’s research, as a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinical Lecturer in Diabetes and Endocrinology, is to understand why some people with diabetes develop painful neuropathy while others do not, and to improve the treatment of those who have the condition.
He uses clinical, neuroimaging and peripheral nerve-based techniques to explore how the brain is involved in diabetes-related neuropathy.
Through this approach he aims to identify biological markers that could support earlier diagnosis, prevention and targeted treatment of diabetes-related nerve damage.
Gordon’s neuroimaging research has been published in numerous high-impact journals including Diabetes Care, Diabetes, Diabetologia and The Lancet.
He also leads the NEUROdiab Youth Committee, supporting early-career scientists, and has won the NEUROdiab Young Investigator Award and multiple national and international presentation prizes.
He is involved in several pioneering studies aimed at detecting and treating diabetic neuropathy at an earlier stage including exploring whether early nerve function measures in young people with type 1 diabetes can predict future neuropathy risk and the OCEANIC Trial which is investigating if using point of care technologies to track key health metrics in real time alongside lifestyle strategies can reverse the risk of complications caused by nerve damage in people living with diabetes.
Reflecting on the recognition, Gordon said: “It’s an honour to receive this award which reflects not only my work but also the work of the whole Sheffield Teaching Hospitals diabetes research team, the excellent mentoring support I have received and the collaborators and participants who make this research possible.
“Recognition like this reinforces the importance of continued investment in early-career clinician scientists striving to improve outcomes for people with diabetic neuropathy.”
