Our Research Members

I care for children and adolescents with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. I have been involved in diabetes related clinical research as a Principal Investigator in the NIH multicentered trial entitled Treatment Options for Type 2 Diabetes in adolescents and Youth (TODAY), which was designed to identify best ways to treat type 2 diabetes in youth. I have also been Principal Investigator the Clinical Coordinating Center for the NIH/NIDDK funded Epidemiology of Diabetes Intervention and Complications (DCCT/EDIC) trial.

Currently, my diabetes related research includes membership in the Hvidoere Study Group of Childhood Diabetes, using technology to enhance diabetes self-management, and quality improvement within clinical practice, including working to improve transitions from pediatric to adult care. 

Type 2 diabetes is one of the most serious public health issues in Canada and on a global scale. There are striking differences in prevalence among ethnic groups. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes among Aboriginal people is higher than in the general population, and elevated risk has also been described for other groups, such as Hispanics. One of the major goals of Dr. Parra’s research is to identify type 2 diabetes genetic risk factors in Hispanic populations, using different approaches, such as candidate gene studies, admixture mapping and genome-wide association.

I have worked as a Nurse Practitioner in Cardiac Surgery since 1998, and in my role have cared for many individuals with diabetes (T2DM). Many patients who have sternal wound infections have diabetes, and many individuals have poor blood sugar control following cardiac surgery. I am interested in the prevention of complications in individuals with diabetes, with a specific interest is in sex and gender and the prevention of cardiovascular disease. I have been a co-investigator with Dr. Stewart Harris investigating diabetes in several Indigenous (First Nation, Inuit and Métis) communities in Canada, am a co-investigator and member of the Training and Mentoring and Knowledge Translation Goal  Groups with Diabetes Action Canada (DAC), and have received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (in collaboration with Clinical Trials Ontario) to build capacity for Patient-Oriented Research in Canada.

Long-term complications of diabetes, including eye and kidney disease cluster in families suggesting that genetic factors may be involved. Using DNA from large numbers of people with diabetes who have their complications measured, we are using high throughput methods to measure all of the common genetic variation in the human genome to identify which ones are associated with specific complications. In addition, we are identifying genetic loci that are associated with the major risk factors for diabetes complications – glycemia, blood pressure, body composition and lipids.

Using longitudinal cohort methods as well as clinical trials, my research focuses on 1) Early biomarkers of diabetes complications (with a focus on neuropathy and kidney disease) and 2) Interventions for prevention of complications, including automated insulin delivery (‘artificial pancreas’) technologies and disease-modifying adjunctive-to-insulin pharmacotherapies in type 1 diabetes. I am a principal investigator in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (DCCT/EDIC) and I co-lead an Innovations in Type 1 Diabetes group within Diabetes Action Canada, a national patient-oriented research strategy.

We are interested in the role of innate immunity, specifically Nod like receptors, as well as the microbiota in diabetes pathogenesis.

The objective of our research program is to study the role of differential colonization of the intestine by commensal bacteria on the development of anti-pancreatic autoimmunity in humans and murine models of the disease with the objective to understand how environmental changes can affect the expression of diabetogenic genotypes.

Our laboratory is interested in the identification and characterization of circulating factors influencing beta cell function during the pathogenesis of diabetes. Utilizing a combination of animal models, human patient samples, primary tissues, clonal cell lines, and molecular biology approaches, we aim to interrogate how inter-organ communication via proteins and metabolites is altered early in the development of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, contributing to the overt manifestation of disease. Ultimately, we hope to identify novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets that can be harnessed to prevent or delay diabetes development.

Research in my laboratory focuses on the immunology, pathogenesis and therapy of type 1 diabetes. We are investigating drugs that can induce the regeneration of pancreatic beta cells, or prevent beta-cell death.  This includes studies of GABA, GLP-1, Klotho, TGF-beta inhibitors, and other molecules or drugs relevant to diabetes therapy. In many cases, human pancreatic islets are transplanted into immunodeficient cells for in vivo studies. This work requires the application of a wide variety of immunological, biochemical, cellular and molecular biological techniques, in relevant disease models.