Dr Riddhi Das Gupta, Assistant Professor, Christian Medical College, Vellore, was presented the prestigious P.Kesavadev JPEF Award 2017 for ‘Young Researcher in Diabetes’. The award comprising of a cash prize of INR lakh, Gold medal, Citation and Travel grant was presented to Dr Gupta during ‘Jothydev’s Professional Education Forum (JPEF) Annual Global Diabetes Convention 2017’ by Dr Satish Garg (USA).The expert panel consisting of Dr Georgi Abraham(Chennai), Dr Ashok Kumar Das(Puducherry), and Dr Jothydev Kesavadev(Trivandrum) unanimously selected the award winner for his pioneering work on Fibrocalculous Pancreatic Diabetes (FCPD).

FCPD is a type of diabetes that occurs due to accumulation of stones in the pancreas with Southern India showing the highest prevalence. Cardinal triad of FCPD is abdominal pain, pancreatic calculi and diabetes. Diabetes in FCPD is often brittle and difficult to control; most patients require multiple doses of insulin for control of blood glucose and pancreatic malignancy is the most dreaded complication.

The root cause of FCPD is poorly understood and for decades, loss of beta-cell mass and defect in insulin secretion were thought to be the crux of the cause of FCPD. However, over the past decade insulin resistance has been attributed to FCPD. The award winning research by Dr.Gupta elucidated the mechanism of FCPD by assessing insulin sensitivity using Euglycemic-Hyperinsulinemic Pancreatic clamps and characterized body composition, liver and muscle lipid deposition and also insulin and glucagon secretory responses. He compared these characteristics in 50 subjects which included 20 FCPD, 10 each of Type 1, Type 2 diabetes and normal individuals over 1 year.

Seen in picture: from left: Dr.Roger Chen (Australia), Dr.Jothydev Kesavadev, Dr.Riddhi Das Gupta (CMC,Vellore), Dr.Satish Garg (USA), Dr.Reinhard Becker (Germany), Dr.K.K.Manojan (Trivandrum), Dr.Ashok Kumar Das (Puducherry), Dr.Sunitha Jothydev (Trivandrum)

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