1906-12: Elliott P. Joslin, M.D., does experimental work on how people with and without diabetes burn food as fuel. He observes the effect of fasting and different amounts and combinations of carbohydrates, proteins and fats on diabetes.

Late 1920s: Joslin researchers publish papers on new ways to treat diabetic coma, and medical and surgical ways to save feet and legs from amputation due to diabetic complications.

1949: The  pioneering pregnancy studies of Priscilla White, M.D., show the importance of strict blood glucose control and early delivery for fetal survival.

Late 1950s: Joslin physicians participate in testing oral medications to control type 2 diabetes.

1962: Using newly available radioimmunoassays to track the course of insulin through the body, Joslin researchers perform a wide range of classic studies on glucose metabolism.

1967: A laser treatment (Ruby laser photocoagulation) is developed by William Beetham, M.D., and Lloyd M. Aiello, M.D., which within the next five years revolutionizes the care of diabetic retinopathy, a potentially blinding complication of diabetes.

1976: Joslin researchers perfect the A1C test, paving the way for this blood test to assess blood glucose control over a two- to three-month period.

1980s: Basic research at Joslin shows that type 1 diabetes evolves over a period of years, presenting hope that a means may be found to prevent autoimmune destruction of the pancreas’ beta cells before they stop producing insulin.

1980s: Joslin researchers also find that people with early signs of insulin resistance were likely to develop type 2 diabetes—unless they lose weight.

1989: George King, M.D., and colleagues demonstrate that high blood glucose levels activate protein kinase C (PKC), part of a major signaling pathway that causes cellular changes in the eye, kidney and arteries that lead to diabetic complications.

1996: A molecular pathway (called NF-kB) is identified in fat and the liver that is activated by obesity (and a fatty diet) and causes the insulin resistance that can lead to type 2 diabetes (Steven E. Shoelson, M.D., Ph.D.).

1997: Joslin researchers demonstrate that injection of a growth factor called VEGF activates PKC in the retina, leading to damaged blood vessels and bleeding into the eye. They find also that the PKC inhibitor appears to stop this (George L. King, M.D., and Lloyd P. Aiello, M.D., Ph.D.). Joslin is currently part of a nationwide, multicenter trial to determine if this PKC inhibitor can slow or prevent diabetic retinopathy.

1997: King lab also finds that PKC inhibitor improves certain heart dysfunction and kidney disease that are related to high blood glucose.

1999: C. Ronald Kahn, M.D., is elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of American medicine’s highest honors.

2000: Researchers in the Joslin Section on Islet Transplantation and Cell Biology discover a way to encourage pancreas cells that do not normally produce insulin to become insulin-producing cells (Susan Bonner-Weir, Ph.D, and Gordon C. Weir, M.D.).

2000: Insulin signaling system in the brain is linked to type 2 diabetes, appetite control, obesity and even infertility (Dr. Kahn and colleagues).

2003: Researchers pinpoint a group of genes that are involved in type 2 diabetes and reveal that the activity of these genes changes even before overt diabetes develops (Mary-Elizabeth Patti, M.D.).

2003: Researchers find that mice that were genetically altered to have no insulin receptors in fat were able to overeat without gaining weight. These mice had fat that did not respond to insulin, and since insulin is needed to help fat cells store fat, they were protected against obesity and against the metabolic abnormalities associated with obesity, such as type 2 diabetes (Kahn lab).

2003: Researchers discover that early signs of kidney disease (microalbuminuria) can be reversed back to normal with proper medical screening and diabetes control (Andrzej Krolewski, M.D., Ph.D., and Bruce Perkins, M.D., M.P.H.).

2004: Study suggests how diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease may be linked. Mice bred with genetically-engineered insulin resistance, a hallmark of diabetes, reveal high levels of certain proteins in their brains that are believed to cause brain cell death in people with Alzheimer’s (Kahn lab).

2004: Diane J. Mathis, Ph.D., is elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

2005: Research shows that when people gain weight, they activate a “master switch”( known as NF-kB), which triggers the inflammation pathway that leads to insulin resistance. Aspirin-like drugs (which are anti-inflammatories) can turn off this response. (Shoelson lab).  

2005: Christophe O. Benoist, M.D., Ph.D., is elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

2005: Research shows that poor prenatal nutrition permanently damages function of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, raising the risk that the child will later develop type 2 diabetes (Patti lab).

2006: Joslin researchers find that specific genes can determine both obesity and body-fat distribution in humans. (Kahn lab).

2006: Scientists at Joslin discover that a surprisingly high percentage of people with type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent) who have had the disease for 50 years or longer (The Joslin Medalists) may still have residual functioning, insulin-producing islet cells and/or islet cell antibodies.

2006: A Joslin Diabetes Center-led study documented for the first time subtle changes in the gray matter of the brain of type 1 diabetes patients compared to control subjects who did not have diabetes (Alan Jacobson, M.D.)

2007: Joslin researchers discover protein that causes blood vessel leakage in eyes with diabetic retinopathy (Feener lab).

2007: New Joslin study reveals how a specific fat type can protect against weight gain and diabetes (Kahn lab).