Patrick MacDonald🇨🇦
@bcellorg.bsky.social
Professor. CRC. University of Alberta. University of Michigan. Diabetes. Biobanking. Cells, tissues, data. HumanIslets.com, IsletCore.ca, bcell.org
We wrote a thing on how oxidative stress causes hepatic insulin resistance based on an article in @natmetabolism.nature.com link.springer.com/article/10.1...
How oxidative stress leads to hepatic insulin resistance - Immunity & Inflammation
Abstract Hepatic insulin resistance is a key aspect of obesity-linked metabolic dysfunction, but the molecular mechanisms are still insufficiently understood. Now, a new study shows that reactive oxyg...
link.springer.com
New paper in @diabetologiajnl.bsky.social on paracrine control of insulin secretion, led by the talented newly minted Dr. Ryan Hart (@ryanhart13.bsky.social). 1/5 doi.org/10.1007/s001...
Please share this gift article from The New York Times with friends, family, sceptics, and People who think that studying weird things is a waste of money. Then follow up with meaningful discussion about what I call 'free range science'. Free without subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/20/o...
Opinion | The Science That Turned Lizard Venom Into GLP-1s Is Under Attack
nytimes.com
Multi-modal comparison of primary and stem cell-derived β-cells nominates targets for maturation www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Multi-modal comparison of primary and stem cell-derived β-cells nominates targets for maturation
Stem-cell-derived β-like-cells (SCβ-cells) provide a promising platform for diabetes modelling and cell replacement therapy, but their incomplete functional maturation remains a challenge. Here, we co...
biorxiv.org
I’ve been off of social media…. But this is one reason to come back. Good stuff.
CIRTN-R2FIC@cirtn.bsky.social · 3mo ago(🧵 1/22) Many publications from the CIRTN labs this Spring 🌷! Works are from Drs Bruin, MacDonald, Johnson, Mulvihill, Chen, Verchere, Kolic, Huang, Hull-Meichle, Kin, Shapiro, Korbutt, Pepper, P. MacDonald, T. MacDonald, Rideout, Riddell, Rutter, Rabasa-Lhoret and Prentice.
(🧵 1/22) Many publications from the CIRTN labs this Spring 🌷! Works are from Drs Bruin, MacDonald, Johnson, Mulvihill, Chen, Verchere, Kolic, Huang, Hull-Meichle, Kin, Shapiro, Korbutt, Pepper, P. MacDonald, T. MacDonald, Rideout, Riddell, Rutter, Rabasa-Lhoret and Prentice.
From pancreas and islet resources to diabetes insights link.springer.com/article/10.1...
From pancreas and islet resources to diabetes insights - Diabetologia
Pancreatic islets of Langerhans are central to the pathogenesis of all major forms of diabetes. The ability to study human islets ex vivo has advanced our understanding of diabetes and aided in the de...
link.springer.com
(🧵1/23) First month of 2026: complete✅! Many papers coming from CIRTN scientists, including works from the labs of Drs Bruin, Lynn, Estall, Ferdaoussi, Fullerton, Hull-Meichle, Pepper, Korbutt, Levings, Lim, Mulvihill, Rabasa-Lhoret, Riddell, Rutter, Tsai, Woo and Verchere! 📝
After the World Trade Center was attacked (just four miles from Trump Tower), more than 40,000 Canadians in uniform fought alongside their U.S. allies in Afghanistan. More than 2,000 Canadians were wounded. These 158 didn't make it home. And now this guy is giving lectures on gratitude.
Vince D. Monroy@vincedmonroy.bsky.social · 7mo agoTrump on Canada: They should be grateful also, but they’re not. I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn’t so grateful. But they should be grateful to us. Canada lives because of the U.S. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.
Take a look behinds the sciences of our recent work!
Journal of Clinical Investigation@jci.org · 8mo agoBehind the Scenes: Featuring authors Theodore dos Santos, Xiao-Qing Dai, Patrick E. MacDonald, James G. Lyon, Aliya F. Spigelman, Nancy Smith, Tina Dafoe, and Austin Bautista and their work with IsletCore
Behind the Scenes: Featuring authors Theodore dos Santos, Xiao-Qing Dai, Patrick E. MacDonald, James G. Lyon, Aliya F. Spigelman, Nancy Smith, Tina Dafoe, and Austin Bautista and their work with IsletCore
What can surviving pancreatic cells tell us about type 1 diabetes? Patrick E. MacDonald @bcellorg.bsky.social analyze pancreatic islet cells from donors with type 1 diabetes, defining pathways and mechanisms responsible for altered insulin and glucagon: doi.org/10.1172/JCI1...
Altered immune and metabolic molecular pathways drive islet cell dysfunction in human type 1 diabetes @jci.org @bcellorg.bsky.social @ualberta.bsky.social #T1D www.jci.org/articles/vie... www.jci.org/articles/vie...
Journal of Clinical Investigation@jci.org · 8mo agoWhat can surviving pancreatic cells tell us about type 1 diabetes? Patrick E. MacDonald @bcellorg.bsky.social analyze pancreatic islet cells from donors with type 1 diabetes, defining pathways and mechanisms responsible for altered insulin and glucagon: doi.org/10.1172/JCI1...
An integrated analysis that combines electrophysiological and transcriptomic profiling, along with machine learning, of #islet cells from #T1D donors highlights the importance of α cell dysfunction @albertadiabetes.bsky.social @jci.org @bcellorg.bsky.social www.jci.org/articles/vie...
CIRTN-R2FIC is currently running in Toronto its 4th Annual Meeting. During this meeting we have launched our mini interview series called "Islets in a Pod" ! Our first interview is with Dr. Patrick MacDonald from the University of Alberta. youtu.be/UlHn_1Fz3ck?...
#1 Islets in a Pod with Dr. Patrick MacDonald
YouTube video by CIRTN-R2FIC
youtu.be
It was a pleasure to attend the @cirtn.bsky.social workshop. I could not be more impressed by the incredible trainee presentations. And it was a special pleasure to present the first CIRTN Science Communication Award to three amazing scientists: Lahari Basu, Maria Galipeau and Cassandra Locatelli!
Unfortunately can’t be there in person this year, but wishing everyone attending @cirtn.bsky.social national meeting a good time in Toronto!
🧵(1/12) November is Diabetes Awareness Month, and we have many works coming out from the CIRTN labs focusing on islet biology and diabetes. For the beginning of Nov 2025, we have papers from Drs Thompson, Verchere, Chen, Dhanvantari, Hill, Hoesli, Kin, Levings, Lynn, Riddell, Rutter and Wheeler.
'Icicle kick' goes viral: CPL final tops 1 billion views https://www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/aaa9fec50b2b595cc0291494fc97e4bd10e7d6945d5c457e0bfa75d42846a705/0b881bb4-068b-47e1-aa08-df6969c9f628
“The New York Times found that at critical points, as measles was gaining new footholds in Canada, provincial politicians stopped public health officials from speaking out about the value of getting vaccinated” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/w...
Canada Is About to Lose Its Status as Having Eliminated Measles
nytimes.com
Robert Munsch has donated his personal archives of stories and materials to the Guelph Public Library. This is wonderful for such a valuable archive to be given to a public municipal library. www.guelphpl.ca/Modules/News...
Robert Munsch donates his archives to Guelph Public Library
Robert Munsch donates his archives to Guelph Public Library
guelphpl.ca
How much are MPs entitled to know about research grants? Not as much as you think. - Globe and Mail
🧵(1/4) We have finished up October 2025 🎃, and the CIRTN groups had several more publications coming from the labs of Drs Rennian Wang, Megan Levings and Marc Prentki.
This! Fancy web interfaces let you explore the data, but they are not the same as sharing the data. You can do both!
Pierre-Paul Axisa@ppaxisa.bsky.social · 9mo agoPSA: it’s all great if you provide an interactive dashboard to browse the data you painstakingly generated. But please do back up the data on persistent archive like zenodo. It’s too bad we can’t access the database when inevitably the server goes down and you moved onto other projects/institutions
If you are a Canadian scientist interested in the protection of identifying information about applicants and reviewers of tricouncil grants please read and sign this letter. Thank you. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Open Letter to Protect Tri-Council EDI Data
Why do we need urgent action to protect our data? The mandate of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Research is to review and report on topics relating to science and research in ...
docs.google.com
📢 Support Our Science in the news! We’re proud to be featured in CTV News’ latest story on Canada’s emerging “brain gain” — a scientific migration as researchers look north amid challenges in the U.S.
Avis Favaro@avisfavaro.bsky.social · 10mo agoOver 600 scientists-half from the U.S.-raised their hand for a position at Toronto’s University Health Network- meet one who has moved to 🇨🇦. A scientific migration amid U.S turmoil www.ctvnews.ca/health/artic... @ctvnews-mirror.bsky.social @uhn.ca @supportourscience.bsky.social
Interesting paper, but does anyone know if the claim that “…The datasets (genome-wide raw sequencing and individual-level clinical data) … are not publicly available due to EU and national legislation” is reasonable? https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-21595-1
🧵(1/4) For the first half of October 2025 we have 3 publications from the CIRTN labs🍁. These papers are from the groups of Drs. Bruce Verchere, Yi-Chun Chen, Francis Lynn, James Shapiro, Tatsuya Kin and Guy Rutter!
