Trinity Western Magazine

We pulled out of our driveway in August 1997, our blue Toyota 4-Runner loaded with camping gear, coolers, and kids. What seemed like just another family vacation, attending a wedding and a family reunion, proved the beginning of a journey that would alter the course of our lives.

“Mommy, I’m really thirsty—can I please have a drink? Please, Mommy?” Again? Seven-year-old Gabrielle’s requests from the back seat were fast becoming a source of frustration. And her frequent need for potty breaks was cutting into our travel time. But it wasn’t until she woke me several times that first night of camping—for more washroom visits—that the realization hit. Something was seriously wrong.

In Saskatoon, my sister-in-law, a nurse educator, said, “If her breath smells fruity when you kiss her goodnight, you’ll know.” It did. The next morning, a doctor confirmed our suspicion: Gabi had type I diabetes. My head swirled; the world seemed to cave in. How would we ever manage? As I sat in the office with Gabi on my lap, hot tears stung my cheeks.

Approximately 1.8 million people in Canada are affected by Type II diabetes.

We were sent to Royal University Hospital at the University of Saskatchewan where Gabi was admitted—and where my husband and I would spend the next few days learning to care for our daughter. Twice-daily insulin injections, “finger-pokes” four times a day to monitor her blood glucose, and the continuous effort of maintaining a meal plan—while also maintaining our sanity—kept us hopping. The challenge was to treat it all as part of our lives, yet not allow it to become our lives.

Reality Check

Type I diabetes affects approximately 200,000 children and adults in Canada, and an estimated 25 million world-wide. It is sometimes referred to as juvenile diabetes, since most—although not all—cases diagnosed are in children. In people with Type I diabetes, the pancreas ceases to produce insulin, a molecule that helps cells use the glucose in the bloodstream.

But about 1.8 million people in Canada are affected by Type II diabetes—a number that is growing at an alarming rate, particularly in children. In these cases, the pancreas may produce insulin but the cells can’t respond to it. While Type I patients are insulin-dependant, those with Type II are not always so. Some can maintain control with diet and exercise, while others require medication to help regulate blood sugar levels—a critical aspect of diabetes care, regardless of type.

Left unchecked, complications arising from both types of diabetes—which affects a staggering 246 million people worldwide—can cause blindness, kidney failure, loss of circulation, and death.

A Common Purpose

Inside the white-walled labs of TWU’s Neufeld Science Centre, Associate Professor of Biology, Eve Stringham, Ph.D., and Associate Professor and Department Chair, Dennis Venema, Ph.D., are hard at work researching insulin signaling and its role in cell behaviour.

Through their study of two tiny organisms—a one-millimeter long worm, Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), and a fruit fly known as Drosophila melanogaster—Stringham and Venema hope to gain clues that may ultimately lead to new treatments for Type II diabetes. “We don’t understand all of the molecular events that occur because of insulin signaling,” says Stringham. “Trying to unravel those events could potentially help us find novel targets for therapeutic intervention.”

Stringham—who in January 2007 was awarded a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Developmental Genetics and Disease by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)—first worked with C. elegans as an undergrad student. She later did her master’s degree in human genetics and found mapping genes frustrating. “If you’re doing that type of genetic study, you have to find large families with lots of kids,” she says, “and that’s not always easy.”

Looking for a more favourable model to use for her doctoral research, Stringham turned again to C. elegans. “I realized if I wanted to understand how cells work—and how genes control how cells work—I would need a model I could manipulate and grow in huge quantities, something with a short life cycle,” she says. “This worm goes from egg to adult in three days, so in three days, I could get my answer.”

Venema’s research is focused on one gene that is a key component of a cascade of proteins, which pass a signal from insulin down to other factors inside cells that regulate things like cell growth and division rates. “This key protein in Drosophila is virtually the same in humans,” he says, “and, since the two proteins are so similar, it’s very likely that what we discover in flies is relevant to humans.”

The same is true of worms, although one might not think so. “We share a common biochemistry and genetics such that the basic processes of cell division, cell specialization, and cell migration are pretty much the same in humans,” says Stringham. “When basic processes like cell division or cell migration go wrong, you end up with disease. By studying how these things work in C. elegans, we have a better understanding of human biology and disease.”

Stringham and Venema are just two of many researchers in their field. “Insulin signaling is a huge topic in biology,” Venema says, “and our hope is that our research, when combined with the efforts of other labs around the globe, may lead to ideas about how we can regulate the function of this key protein with therapeutic drugs. This is especially relevant for Type II diabetes, where insulin is present in the bloodstream but fails to signal properly into cells.”

Passing the Torch

Both researchers believe strongly in mentorship: as part of their joint research project, the pair has a graduate student researching how a particular protein when stimulated through insulin binding to the cell surface can coordinate responses inside the cell. A second student is examining the relationship between insulin signaling and environmental stress.

“The academic life is one of discovery, research, and conveying what you know,” Stringham says. “Part of that is mentorship of people who will replace you and who will take your knowledge even further. Teaching really goes hand in hand with research.”

TWU’s commitment to providing exceptional laboratory instruction allows Stringham and Venema to focus on students as well as research. “Larger institutions tend to veer more to research, and most small universities don’t really have well-developed research programs,” says Venema, who recently received an international award for excellence in biology instruction. “TWU is a place where serious research and excellent teaching live side-by-side. Excellence in research informs teaching—and excellence in teaching produces great researchers.”

That serious research may also lead to a deeper faith, as researchers seek to unravel the mysteries of molecules. “As a Christian, I find the process of discovery is very much a form of worship,” Stringham says. “When you discover something new, that hasn’t been recorded in literature yet, it’s such a privilege. You feel like you’ve been entrusted with a little secret that God has about how the world is created.”

It’s a sentiment Venema echoes. “In studying biology, we are trying to understand how God reveals Himself in His creation,” he says. “The wonder and intricate nature one sees in biology is a testament to the power and creativity of God, and His delight in even the most humble organisms.”

Potent Motivation

Through the study of these humble organisms, Stringham and Venema hope to discover evidence that may ultimately lead to answers for other diseases as well.

“Type II diabetes is just one disease that may be a beneficiary of this research,” says Stringham, “but really, we’re talking about cancer, understanding aging processes, and atherosclerosis, among others. All of these diseases could benefit from the kind of knowledge we’re going to gain from trying to understand how this insulin-signalling molecule controls cellular events.”

"TWU is a place where serious research and excellent teaching live side-by-side."

It’s what one could call a personal mission for Stringham; when she was in her 20s, her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died just one month later. This experience influences the kinds of questions she asks in her research. “Loved ones are quite potent motivators,” she says.

Potent, indeed. Gabi is now 19 years old and, while she is healthy, the reality of what she faces is never far from my conscious thought. Last year, a girl from her church youth group died from complications of diabetes. Alicia was only 18. A year later, her yellowed obituary notice is a poignant reminder of what could happen.

“People with Type I diabetes are at increased risk for a number of secondary problems, such as circulatory and retinal issues, particularly as they age,” says Stringham. “The more we understand what molecular targets are affected by insulin, the better understanding we have of the cellular processes, insulin physiology, and symptoms that Type I patients have. There are possibilities.”

Those possibilities offer hope for Gabi and millions of others. “Most of us know someone with a chronic disease, like diabetes or cancer,” says Stringham, “and one of the surprises of the last ten years or so is the fact that insulin is important in many processes, not just diabetes. That points to a reason for continuing this research, because it’s going to be relevant. We may not know in what way, but it will be.”

by Wendy Delamont Lees
photography by Mike Rathjen '04

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