An alternative to pancreas transplant–until now only available
in Alberta–will be an option for B.C. diabetes patients within
two years, thanks to a $2.5 million gift to the University
of British Columbia that will support the work of a leading
diabetes researcher and surgeon.
Dr. Garth Warnock, the first diabetes researcher in Canada
to successfully transplant healthy insulin-producing cells
into a diabetic patient, is coming to UBC to expand his investigative
and clinical work with support from the newly established
Irving K. Barber Diabetes Research Fund.
“This remarkable gift allows us to consolidate scientific
leadership in diabetes research here in B.C.,” says UBC President
Martha Piper. “By strengthening our capacity in this area,
we expect to attract additional outstanding investigators
to the university.”
Warnock, a recognized world leader in diabetes research,
will join the Faculty of Medicine in June as head of the Dept.
of Surgery at UBC and Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences
Centre. Annual income from the Barber fund will support the
development of his laboratory which has potential to become
a world-class centre of diabetes research.
Recruiting outstanding faculty and providing for their research
support is a key strategy in Trek 2000, the university’s
vision document.
“My motivation in providing this gift is to help create
an environment at UBC where new knowledge on diabetes will
be generated and made available to the medical community in
B.C. I also hope that this will be one small step to reversing
the so-called brain drain our province has been experiencing,”
says Barber, a UBC alumnus and leading B.C. entrepreneur.
Warnock will bring a strong vision to diabetes research
in B.C.– his approaches offer less invasive and less expensive
alternatives for individuals with this disease, adds UBC’s
Dean of Medicine Dr. John Cairns.
Director of the Division of Surgical Research at University
of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, Warnock led the clinical
islet transplant program at the U of A.
In 1989 program researchers performed Canada’s first islet
cell transplant–isolating healthy clusters of insulin-producing
cells or islets from the pancreas and transplanting them into
a diabetic patient. The procedure can be done by injection
and would be an alternative to pancreas transplant for many
patients.
Warnock was also the attending surgeon for the first patient
in the world to live insulin-free more than two years following
islet cell transplantation.
“I am excited to join diabetes researchers in B.C.,” says
Warnock, currently a professor of Surgery and chief of General
Surgery at U of A. “I am confident that by concentrating our
efforts we can make a significant contribution to diabetes
care in this province and in Canada.”
Diabetes, which affects more than two million Canadians,
is caused by insufficient secretion of insulin by the pancreas.
There were eight pancreas transplants in B.C. last year.
“We are thrilled to have Dr. Warnock come to B.C. and help
move diabetes research forward–his research and ground-breaking
transplantation procedure are welcomed by British Columbians
affected by this disease which is increasing significantly,”
says Catherine Adair, executive director, Canadian Diabetes
Association (B.C.-Yukon Division).
Warnock, who as department head will assume the C.N. Woodward
Chair in Surgery, also has clinical interests in surgical
issues related to endocrine, pancreatic, gastrointestinal
disease and surgical breast diseases. An accomplished instructor,
he has earned many honours for teaching excellence in clinical
surgery.
Biographical information: Dr. Garth Warnock, MSc, MD, BMedSci
Dr. Warnock is currently professor of Surgery, chief of Surgery
of the Division of General Surgery and director of the Division
of Surgical Research of the University of Alberta.
He received his BMedSci from the University of Lethbridge
and the University of Alberta, and his MD and MSc (Experimental
Surgery) from the University of Alberta. He did his surgical
training in the University of Alberta teaching hospitals in
Edmonton and with support from the Alberta Heritage Foundation
for Medical Research (AHFMR), pursued research training first
at the University of Alberta and then at Oxford University.
He returned to Edmonton in 1985 and has had career support
from AHFMR ever since, initially as a clinical investigator
then a medical scholar and currently as a senior medical scholar.
His principal research interests are in basic aspects of
cell transplantation with emphasis on the islets of Langerhans
–clusters of cells in the pancreas — and he has been a pioneer
in clinical islet cell transplantation.
He is an active clinical surgeon, chief of surgery of the
Division of General Surgery of the University of Alberta hospitals
and is active in acute general surgery, gastrointestinal surgery
and surgical breast diseases in addition to his focus on diseases
of the endocrine and exocrine pancreas.
He has published extensively with more than 80 peer-reviewed
papers, two books and 20 book chapters.
He has achieved excellence as a teacher and has had extensive
involvement at the undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing
medical education levels and has been recognized for his teaching
excellence with a number of awards.
He is active in local, national and international surgical
and scientific committees and as well as holding his fellow
of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada, he is a fellow
of the American College of Surgeons.
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