A University of Aberdeen diabetes expert will share the incredible journey which took her from a teenager fleeing war-torn Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1994 to becoming the first female Regius Chair of Physiology – a position appointed directly by the King – three decades later.
Professor Mirela Delibegovic will host a Founders’ Week Lecture to celebrate the 530th anniversary of the creation of the university.
At the free event on Wednesday February 12 she will share with the audience how her early life inspired her research journey and details of her ground-breaking work following in the footsteps of another Aberdeen diabetes pioneer, credited with saving millions of lives.
Professor Delibegovic came to the UK on a scholarship from George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh, where her potential as a scientist was encouraged. She went on to study pharmacology at the University of Edinburgh, for a PhD in biochemistry at the University of Dundee and then undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School in Boston.
Her initial interest in diabetes research was fuelled by a family history and prevalence of Type 2 diabetes in Bosnia and Herzegovina – and she was determined to play her part in understanding why our bodies stop responding to the effects of our own hormone, insulin.
She now leads the Aberdeen Cardiovascular and Diabetes Centre exploring how diabetes, obesity, heart disease and ageing are woven together and in 2024 her successful research career was recognised when she was appointed by the King as the first female Regius Chair of Physiology.
Her work follows in the footsteps of previous Aberdeen Regius Chair of Physiology, JJR Macleod, who led the Toronto team credited with the discovery of insulin.
Professor Delibogovic said: “Thanks to the team led by Professor Macleod, people living with type 1 diabetes, who do not produce insulin, have been able to inject it for more than a century.
“But it wasn’t until the early 1980s that the receptor through which insulin works was identified and this is crucial knowledge for type 2 diabetes, where the body produces insulin but it doesn’t do its job.
“We are trying to understand if we can use the targets post insulin receptor, to improve patients’ lives either through treatment or through earlier intervention.”
The lecture forms part of the University of Aberdeen’s Founders’ Week celebrations which will also include a discovery day of family fun on Monday February 10 with tours of the Old Aberdeen campus, visits to the Zoology Museum, and STEM activities for all ages delivered by TechFest.
The university’s Professor Gordon Noble will also speak at a Café Sci event in Aberdeen Art Gallery on Tuesday February 11 about his research into Pictish kingdoms in North-east Scotland.
The week pays tribute to Aberdeen’s historic origins as an ancient university and provides an opportunity to highlight the important role the institution continues to play in education and research.
Professor Delibegovic collaborates with researchers worldwide and from a range of different disciplines with the aim of turning the findings made at the laboratory bench into diagnostic tools, medicines and other interventions.
“Understanding what causes insulin resistance and finding ways to postpone or even reverse these conditions is crucial to our future health,” she said.
“My hope is that the research we are doing now will lead to simple, achievable and affordable therapies that tackle diabetes and its complications in the future.”
The Founders’ Week inaugural lecture takes place at the Suttie Centre, Foresterhill on February 12 from 6pm to 7.15pm. It will include a question and answer session and will be followed by a reception.
Entry is free but places should be reserved by visiting https://www.abdn.ac.uk/events/21867/