Dr. Lewis has dedicated his career to advancing diabetes research and serving the needs of people experiencing diabetes in his clinical work.

Dr. Patrick MacDonald is a Professor of pharmacology at the University of Alberta and the Director of the Alberta Diabetes Institute (ADI) Isletcore.

President and Co-Founder of the Type 1 Diabetes Think Tank Network (T1DTTN).

Reducing hypoglycemia for patients with type 1 diabetes, developing an artificial pancreas for the treatment of diabetes and researching cystic fibrosis related diabetes.

Developed Humulin (Human Insulin for the treatment of diabetes) - the first drug through gene-based technology.

The first person to propose that people with visceral obesity are at a higher risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Developing a process to derive insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells from stem cells to one day eliminate the need for continuous insulin injections or donor tissue transplants.

The Canadian clinician-scientist famous for transforming the Gairdner Foundation International Awards into “Canada’s Nobel Prizes”.

Smithies worked at the Connaught Laboratories from 1953-1960 where he developed starch gel electrophoresis, a technique used to separate genetic variants of blood plasm proteins.

Received support from the Banting Research Foundation during the early stage of his career. Went on to discover human prolactin and later created Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Canadian medical researcher known for inventing the world’s first anti-gravity suit.

Son of Charles Best (co-discoverer of insulin) and past President of Laurentian University.

Philanthropist who has made major contributions to support healthcare research.

Dr. Cecil Yip was a pioneer whose seminal discoveries helped us understand the molecular structure of insulin and the molecules that it binds to, also known as insulin receptors.

Director of the Banting & Best Diabetes Centre.

Former Canadian Senator and diabetes care advocate.

Medical historian and author of The Discovery of Insulin.

Led the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study that for the first time showed that controlling blood sugar levels is key to preventing diabetes-related cardiovascular complications.

Stem cell researcher.

His work formed the basis for our understanding of hunger and fasting in health, obesity and diabetes.