Wiliam Tamborlane receives highest honor from international diabetes society

Dr. William Tamborlane, professor of pediatrics (endocrinology), chair of pediatric endocrinology, and deputy director for clinical research at the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation, has been awarded the 2014 Prize for Achievement from the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD).

The Prize for Achievement is ISPAD’s highest honor. It is awarded to an individual who has made outstanding contributions in the areas of science, education and advocacy which have had a major impact on childhood and adolescent diabetes.

Tamborlane’s accomplishments over the past 30 years have established his international reputation as one of the foremost clinical scientists in childhood diabetes and related disorders. The hallmark of his research has been to overcome metabolic, physiologic, and psychological obstacles to successfully managing diabetes in pediatric patients. Early in his career he was the first to demonstrate that insulin infusion pump therapy could be used to markedly improve control of Type 1 diabetes. With his mentor and colleague, Robert Sherwin, M.D., he then went on to carry out the research that paved the way for the landmark Diabetes Control and Complications Trial, which demonstrated the benefits of sustained lowering of blood sugar.

Using sophisticated metabolic techniques, Tamborlane has shown that intensive diabetes treatment results in impairments of counterregulatory hormone responses to hypoglycemia and that normal puberty induces a state of insulin resistance that is exaggerated in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes. He has worked with Sonia Caprio, to explore the adverse metabolic consequences of childhood obesity and with Margaret Grey, dean of the Yale School of Nursing, to develop novel behavioral interventions to improve the outcomes of Type 1 diabetes in adolescents. Currently he is engaged in pioneering studies on an artificial pancreas system that utilizes external sensors and insulin pumps.

In addition to his research and clinical practice, Tamborlane has mentored a number of young physicians who have gone on to distinguished careers in patient-oriented research in diabetes. He will accept the ISPAD prize, which is sponsored by Eli Lilly and Company, at the society’s 40^th annual conference in Toronto, Canada in September.