Dr Parth Narendran, from the Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, has been named in Expertscape’s most recent list of top 50 experts in Type 1 Diabetes in the United Kingdom.
The list, published in partnership with Diabetes Times, is based on scientific publications and is 100% objective. Each research article is scored based on the article's year of publication, the article's type, and the journal in which the article appeared. The author of each article is therefore ranked based on their publications.
Ranked 41st, Dr Narendran has over 95 peer-reviewed publications, including six book chapters, which have been cited over 2,000 times. He has also secured over £1.7 million in research funding over the past five years, including grants from the Wellcome Trust, Diabetes UK, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, The Helmsley Foundation, and serial funding from the National Institute of Health Research.
Dr Narendran’s research interest focuses on exploring how insulin secreting beta cells can be protected from the autoimmune process. His work at the University of Birmingham explores a variety of approaches ranging from immunotherapy to lifestyle modification.
His research group is also funded to systematically review all previous research trials in this area for acceptability and efficacy, and to determine whether they can form a combinatorial approach to beta cell preservation.
Type 1 diabetes is a chronic inflammatory condition that affects 0.5% of the UK population – about 300,000 people. It is the result of an inappropriate attack and destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells by the immune system.
People with type 1 diabetes therefore have to take insulin on a lifelong basis by injection pens or pumps. Despite best efforts, good glucose control is challenging to achieve and patients with type 1 diabetes are at increased risk of complications such as blindness, kidney failure and amputations, as well as reduced life expectancy.