Message from Dr. Norman Rosenblum on World Diabetes Day 2025
For World Diabetes Day, here at CIHR-INMD, we join the global community in recognizing the importance of supporting the health, dignity, and wellbeing of every individual living with diabetes. This year the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has chosen "diabetes and well-being" as its theme, highlighting a powerful truth: every person with diabetes deserves the opportunity to live well through equitable access to quality care, ongoing support, and a health system that empowers people—not just to survive with diabetes, but to thrive. To highlight our commitment of supporting research that aims to promote well-being when living with diabetes, I would like to share just a few projects that CIHR-INMD has funded in the most recent years that aim to increase access to quality care for various populations living with diabetes across Canada.
This includes grants focused on:
- improving diabetic retinopathy screening in primary care by using provincial administrative data to identify individuals needing eye exams (NPI: Dr. Valeria Rac, University Health Network)
- creating a national childhood diabetes registry to improve care quality and health outcomes for youth with diabetes (NPI: Dr. Shazan Amed, University of British Columbia)
- implementing a scalable, community-delivered diet and exercise intervention across underserved and at-risk populations (NPI: Dr. Mary Jung, University of British Columbia)
- exploring how structural and social factors influence access to diabetes care and support in Atlantic Canada (NPI: Dr. Renee Crossman, Memorial University of Newfoundland)
- scaling a youth informed program to improve diabetes care during the transition from pediatric to adult services (NPI: Dr. Sonia Butalia, University of Calgary)
- understanding how Indigenous peoples, care providers, and policymakers make decisions about diabetes care within the context of colonization-driven social inequities (NPI: Dr. Lynden Crowshoe, University of Calgary)
Not only do these projects align with IDF's 2025 theme, they also go hand-in-hand with the key points from Diabetes Canada's Clinical Practice Guideline related to the Organization of Diabetes Care: empowering individuals to be active participants in their health journey; delivering collaborative care with interprofessional diabetes teams; using a holistic approach that includes structured education, case management and regular monitoring and using evidence-based systems that leverage technology and data to guide care, support decision-making, and enhance outcomes.
By continuing to fund the research projects with an equity lens, we can support the generation of diabetes research evidence that will not only be clinically effective, but also compassionate, personalized, and inclusive.
Norman Rosenblum, MD, FRCPC, FCAHS
Scientific Director
CIHR Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes
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